Caves
by engineergirl86
Summary: My take on what would happen if Yue doesn't die at the North Pole and Zuko captures both Aang and Katara. And why do Zuko and Katara keep running into each other in caves? Zutara and Yukka
1. The Cave

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender **

**Background: This is what could have happened in "The Siege of the North." Currently, Katara, Yue, and Aang are in the Spirit Oasis. Aang is in the Spirit World. Oh and Zuko has his broadsword with him. Just because I love his broadswords; they are awesome.**

**This will be a Zutara and a Yukka (SokkaxYue).**

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Well, aren't you a big girl now?" a chilling voice came from behind her. Katara turned to see her fears realized.

"No," she gasped, seeing Prince Zuko walking towards her and the unconscious Avatar.

"Yes," Zuko snarled. "Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you."

Katara took a defensive stance in front of Aang as Yue rushed off to find help. Without hesitation Zuko began shooting balls of fire at her. She blocked them with her Waterbending and drew a larger amount of water out of the oasis sending it crashing into her attacker. Zuko was knocked backwards towards the entrance he had come from. He landed with a thud on his stomach.

"I see you've learned a new trick, but I didn't come this far to lose to you." Again Zuko shot flames at her and she pulled more water out of the oasis to douse them and splash him back into the surrounding water. _How did he find us here?_ She wandered to herself. She froze his feet in the water and began to bend it around him making a globe. She froze the water globe and smirked. _Get out of that!_

"You little peasant," Zuko retorted. You've gotten a master haven't you?" He began to heat up his surrounding shell of ice. It cracked open, and he lurched forward at Katara, sending a large ball of fire at the waterbending girl. She deflected it and the two continued to attack and defend. Zuko was inching closer and closer to Aang. He reached out and grabbed the collar of the younger boy's shirt. Katara sent a mass of water at him, washing him away back into the water. She sent a wave of water at him freezing him to the wall.

**(Ok at this point I am going to change things up a bit Zutara style. Hope everyone is good with that.)**

Not moments later, the sun began to rise; Zuko felt it strengthening him. "You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun." With that he exhaled a breath of fire and melted his icy encasement. Katara was exhausted, but refused to give up. She prepared to fight and Zuko didn't disappoint. He sent a huge mass of fire at her; she was able to block it, but the force knocked her back. The area filled with steam from the colliding elements, and Katara hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her; she slid backwards on the ground pulling her hair out of its braid. She was breathless and couldn't see her surroundings for the steam when Zuko leapt on her, grabbing her wrists and quickly tying them together. He got up pulling her with him and grabbed Aang. He threw the boy's body over his shoulder and headed for the door pulling Katara along.

"Let us go!" Katara snapped. Zuko ignored her and stopped at the door to grab Katara's parka and shove it towards her.

"You'll need this where we are going."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she reached with her bound hands and grabbed one of Aang's arms and tried to pull him from Zuko's shoulder. Zuko grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him.

"You're more trouble than you are worth water peasant; if you wouldn't be here to tell them what happened to the Avatar I wouldn't even bother taking you with me," Zuko snapped. _He's forgotten Yue. Hurry Yue! Get as many people as you can!_

. . . . . . . . . .

Yue ran down the halls of the palace searching for someone who could help; anyone. She felt a horrible pang of guilt in her stomach for leaving Katara and Aang, but she knew she wouldn't be of any use in a fight. She rounded another corner and ran right into a sprinting warrior. They crashed to the ground, him landing on top of her. She opened her eyes.

"Sokka! You have to help! Your sister and Aang are in trouble! The fire prince is attacking and Aang is in the spirit world." Sokka jumped to his feet and pulled Yue up.

"Where?"

"Follow me."

On the way Sokka said, "Your dad reassigned me to protect you. I got in a fight with your fiancé and he took me off the mission." Yue smiled, she was so relieved. They reached the Spirit Oasis only to find it deserted.

"No, this is my fault. I never should have left them!" Yue cried.

"No, you did the right thing. If you had been here he would have taken you, too, or worse killed you. We need to go look for them. Let's get Appa."

**(Now we all know Zuko is not a cold blood killer of innocent girls, but Sokka's opinion of him isn't the highest)**

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Half an hour later Katara and Zuko, carrying an unconscious Aang were walking across the polar ice cap in what seemed to be a mild blizzard. Katara had attempted to escape twice already. Both attempts were in vain though. Zuko was stronger and faster and would catch her by the arm in a matter of seconds. Now he wouldn't let go of her arm, so she wouldn't have an opportunity to escape.

_Why did I bring her? _He asked himself.

_So she wouldn't tell anyone what happened with the avatar. _He answered himself.

_But that other girl already got away to go find help._

Flashback::::::::

Zuko sat at his desk toying with a small blue necklace he had used to try to blackmail a certain waterbender with. He had it out constantly since the night he had tied her to a tree, looking at it or running his fingers over it. Iroh walked up to him.

"Prince Zuko, it seems you have grown quite attached to that necklace. Perhaps you have feelings for its owner?" Iroh asked bluntly.

Zuko blushed. "Uncle! What do you mean by that? Of course not! She is the enemy!"

"All I'm saying is that you are a young man now, and you haven't been around girls since you were too young to be interested in them." Iroh chuckled, "And you did seem to be enjoying yourself uncharacteristically the night you captured the young lady."

Zuko blushed harder. "You're imagining things old man." Iroh chuckled and walked away. "Whatever you say Prince Zuko."

Zuko would never admit to it but, s_he was beautiful that night._ He smirked remembering how she had run, terrified away from the pirates. Part of him actually wanted to save her, to be her hero, but he knew he was the bad guy. "I'll save you from the pirates," he smirked as he grabbed her wrists. He had settled for a mixture of the two, and she almost looked like she was blushing after he hissed those words. He wanted to pull the beautiful girl closer to him; he had relished in the terrified look she had on her face. He had scared her, and part of him liked that. It made him feel powerful, so he tied her to a tree and began to question her about the avatar. He circled her, admittedly enjoying the situation. He stood behind her, whispered in her ear, and put his arms around her to present her mother's necklace that he would give her in exchange for the information he so desperately needed. _Maybe uncle was right, maybe this is what those feelings are like, but I will never admit to it._

::::::::End Flashback **(whoa, memory in a flashback whoaaaaa…)**

She was glad she had taken her parka from Zuko after her first escape attempt, and it was currently hanging over her arm. She couldn't put it on because her wrists were bound.

"Zuko, can you untie my wrists so I can put my parka on?"

"Why, so you can bend and try again to escape? We're surrounded by your element; I'm no fool."

"No! Because we are in A BLIZZARD! In case his highness hasn't noticed, and it is cold in blizzards. Why did you tell me to bring the parka if I am not allowed to wear it?"

Zuko growled and wrapped the parka around her, still refusing to untie her wrists. He moved his arm around her back and pulled her forward. He remembered that people who weren't fire benders didn't have the ability to warm themselves internally. It wasn't fool proof, but it helped him tremendously in situations such as these.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Two hours later, Sokka and Yue are on Appa still searching everywhere for the missing members of the gaang, and the blizzard is getting worse.

"This blizzard is making it almost impossible to see," Sokka complained. Yue huddled closer to him.

"We will find them Sokka." _We have to; without the avatar my people have no hope._

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

_I'm so close, I've got to keep fighting. Father I have proven myself. I have the Avatar. I am worthy of my honor again. I just have to get through this blizzard and get him to you._ Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by a thump. His hand had been on Katara's back pulling her along and now nothing was there. He looked down and saw her small form on the ground shaking. A wave of concern flooded over him and he laid down the Avatar and lifted her off of the ground. She was literally freezing to death. He was stricken with guilt.

_We have to find shelter now._ He wrapped the parka around her and threw her over one shoulder. Then, he grabbed the avatar and threw him over the other, and continued to trudge through the blizzard.

_Stupid! Stupid! Why did I bring the girl? Now she's freezing to death and it's my fault; I'm just as much of a monster as they think I am. Did I think she'd abandon the avatar and stay with me? What do I have to offer her anyways; I don't want her to stay out of pity. Why do I even want her? Why am I having these feelings? Arghhhhh! _

Just then Zuko spotted a small cave ahead on the left he trudged towards it. _How am I even going to get out of this one?_ Zuko reached the cave and laid down the unconscious Aang and barely conscious Katara. Katara was slowly coming back to reality. Zuko didn't realize this; he was in his own world walking back to the mouth of the cave. She slid closer to Aang and tried to wrap her bound arms around him to warm him. She cradled his head against her. Zuko began talking as if to Aang from the front of the cave. _Is he finally losing it?_ Katara wandered.

"I finally have you, but I can't get you out of this blizzard. There is always something. Not that you would understand. You're like my sister; everything has always come easy to her. She is a Firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck though; I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It made me who I am."

_His father said that? That's awful! _

Zuko turned around and realized Katara was conscious and listening to him. A shocked look shot across his face but he quickly wiped it off and looked away. "I'm glad to see you're ok. We'll have to wait out the storm." He went and sat down across from her. She just glared at him and continued to hold Aang. Zuko's mind went back to when his mother would hold him like that when he was little. He missed her so much and Katara was reminding him of her. She was always so caring and motherly to the avatar and her brother. Zuko had noticed this, and he longed for her gentle touch, but it was different than his longing for his mother's gentle touches and hugs. He longed to hold Katara in his arms and have her touch his face. He didn't know if it was just because she was a woman and he had seen precious few of them since he'd been old enough to care, or if there was something about this particular girl that was special. She was strong willed, confidant, kind hearted, and beautiful. Not to mention her eyes looked like they were as deep as oceans, he had never seen blue eyes growing up in the fire nation. It was definitely something about this girl.

He realized he was staring at her and looked away.

Katara started to feel faint again, the cold air was still whipping into the cave because of the wind. She shrugged her parka off of one shoulder and managed to pull Aang into it with her. She didn't want him to freeze even if it meant she would be colder.

Sure enough she began to shiver, and she felt herself losing consciousness again, when something she never expected happened. She thought she might have even been hallucinating. Zuko got up and walked toward her, sat down next to her and lifted her up, placing her between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back so that her back was against his chest. "Let go of me!" she weakly protested. He ignored her and began to send waves of heat into her body. She was sure it was a hallucination; she moaned with pleasure and scooted back into him. Zuko blushed at her reaction, and sent even more heat into her body.

_What am I doing? Snuggling with Zuko?_

_It's just a hallucination from freezing to death, and it feels good. You might as well enjoy one last thing before you die._

_This feels awfully real to be a hallucination. I can even feel all of his muscles. Wow he must work out a lot . . . did I just think that? Well so what if I did, just because he is strong and muscular and mysterious doesn't mean anything. So what if he is attractive. He is still the enemy. I don't have to deny that he is attractive. _

After regaining a little more consciousness Katara's eyes shot wide open and she jolted forward out of Zuko's arms. "Whoa, why were you doing that? Get away from me!" _What was I thinking staying in his arms so long!?_

"Relax peasant I was trying to keep you alive. You're welcome."

"Don't get smart with me. You're the one who brought us out here in the first place. This is all your fault!"

"It's not like I was expecting a blizzard."

"Well this is the North Pole, it's not unheard of," Katara replied sarcastically. Zuko stormed off.

_Hurry Aang. What is taking you so ling in the Spirit World?_ Katara looked at the boy sadly. Zuko walked over to Aang and started to tie him up.

"What you doing? Get away from him! Are you obsessed with tying people up?" Katara practically yelled.

"I won't have him escape when he gets back to his body!"

"You're just doing that because you know he can beat you. That's why you keep us tied up. You're afraid of us!"

"I'm not afraid of anything peasant and I have already proven that I can beat you. I don't have to explain myself to my prisoner."

"You're such a jerk and a terrible person! Why are you trying to take away the world's only hope? Oh, that's right, you're Fire Nation. You don't care about anyone or anything. You just want to have the whole world in your Fire Nation clutches, so you can reign terror and destroy lives and families. This war has hurt so many people. It's hurt me, personally! You're Fire Nation took my mother away!"

Katara turned and sat down crying.

"I'm sorry. That's something we have in common," Zuko said walking away from her.

She looked up and turned her head to look at him remembering what he had said earlier about his father saying he was lucky to be born. _And he's lost his mother, too. Plus, I've heard him called the Banished Prince. It sounds like he's got it worse than I do._

"Zuko?" she asked still wiping tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry for yelling at you. You once told me that you had to capture the Avatar to regain your honor. What did you mean by that?"

Zuko looked back at her and tried to decide how much to tell her. "It's the only way to end my banishment and regain my place as heir to the throne and have my father accept me again."

Katara tried to decide if she should push for more information. She stood up and walked toward him with a concerned look on her face. "Zuko, why were you banished?"

He got defensive. Part of him wanted to tell her, but he didn't want her to pity him. "It's not a fond memory; what do you care anyways?"

She looked hurt but not angry. "Zuko, I just want to understand."

He looked back at the mouth of the cave, the blizzard raging on. _We are going to be here awhile; I may as well tell her._ He unsheathed one of his broad swords and turned back to her. She had walked up to him and the two were standing three feet apart; she gasped and started to back up.

"Relax," his cool reply came, he walked toward her and she kept backing up. "I'm just going to cut the rope; you're not going anywhere in this storm." She sighed in relief and allowed him to cut through the bonds. He put his sword away.

"Alright, I was thirteen years old. My father was holding a war meeting and I wanted to go, but the guards wouldn't let me in. My uncle told me that they were boring and I should not worry with going, but as heir to the throne I insisted. My uncle took me in and made me promise not to speak out. A general began telling of a plan to sacrifice newly trained troops in order to trap the enemy. I was outraged that we would consider sacrificing our own troops. I spoke out, and in doing so dishonored the general. An Agni Kai was to take place because of my insult. I declared that I was not afraid. The next day I was in the arena ready to fight for my honor. I looked up and my opponent was not the general, but my father the Fire Lord. Apparently, in speaking out against the general I had dishonored my father because it was in his war room that I did the crime. I fell on my face and surrendered. I refused to fight my father, though he threatened me repeatedly. He told me that in refusing to fight I had lost my honor. I had disrespected him. He said I needed to learn respect, and pain would be my teacher. He burned my face and banished me."

Katara gasped, "How can a father-" Zuko cut her off, "I don't want your pity."

She stepped forward, and gently and slowly lifted her hand and placed it on his face over his scar. He winced and kept the grimace on his face, but to her surprise didn't swat her hand away or grab her wrist to stop her. Now it all made sense, why Zuko was a jerk all the time, why he was so driven, why he chased them all over the world to capture Aang. He just wanted his father to accept him, he- like herself- just wanted to go home and have things return to normal.

. . . . . . . . . .

**Ok that's all for chapter 1. I know I'm mean for ending it right there. I just had too so what will happen next? Sokka to the rescue? Aang back from the Spirit World? How far will Zuko and Katara's sweet little moment go? **

**By the way if you can't already tell I really like the SokkaxYue thing so Yue will be in it a lot. She is a cool character, so in my story she won't die. I am also a Zutara fanatic!**

**Please review!**


	2. Zuko's Secrets

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

**Ready for some more Zutara goodness? I know I am! **

**Thanks to my reviewers and all of you who read and followed or fav'd it! Pretty please I want more reviews this time. Tell me the truth whatever you think! Or just tell me how awesome Zutara is. They are soooo perfect for each other! **

. . . . . . . . . . .

Katara's hand gently caressed Zuko's scar. In her eyes was a look of concern and compassion, but not pity. She was overwhelmed by her nurturing motherly instincts, but it was different this time. She never felt like this caring for Sokka or Aang. What was this strange new feeling? She began to feel awkward and didn't want to weird Zuko out. _He doesn't want me touching his scar._ She started to pull her hand away. Suddenly, his hand shot up and landed over hers, keeping her from moving away. His eyes were still closed, and she gazed at him, trying to understand her rush of emotions all brought on by a simple innocent touch.

He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her endlessly. He had never kissed a girl in his sixteen _almost seventeen _years due to his time searching for the Avatar. He had no time for such things, but now all that seemed to fade away. Her fingers were smooth and cool like her element on his skin. He opened his eyes and looked deeply into hers. She could have sworn he was staring into her soul. He stepped closer to her and her other hand instinctively landed on his shoulder with her forearms on his chest. She looked so beautiful with her long brown hair falling down around her arms, still out of her braid from the fight. He felt lost in her blue eyes, vast and loving as oceans.

Never one to give in to fear or back down, in one smooth motion Zuko released her hand and began moving his hands to her waist while he slowly but boldly leaned down to kiss her. Her hand fell from his eye to cup his cheek, her other hand still on his muscular shoulder. His hands slid around to the small of her back caressing the curve of her body as he leaned down. She didn't move an inch, neither toward him nor away from him, not even knowing what she wanted. His right hand flew up her back to between her shoulder blades to pull her into the kiss as his lips firmly met hers.

_SWOOOSH! _The loud sound jarred them back to the surrounding world, and Katara pulled herself from Zuko's arms before the kiss started. Their lips had touched, but right as Zuko began to open his mouth to kiss her she pulled away, startled by the sound. Aang was back from the spirit world and Katara distanced herself from Zuko as much as she could as he regained consciousness.

**(I know that Aang can see what's going on in the living world while he is in the Spirit World, but he didn't see them, they were deeper in the cave, and they pulled away in time. I know this probably is not one hundred percent accurate with the sound and all, but work with me ppl. Lol)**

Katara ran to Aang and began to untie him, but Zuko ran after her and grabbed her wrists.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Untying my friend," she replied firmly.

"I thought you understood!"

"I do understand, but that doesn't make it right. Zuko, don't do this! You're not Ozai."

"So you take me for someone who is weak, and will just surrender his objectives?" he replied. Still holding her wrists firmly as a very confused Avatar looked on. "You think I'm weak because of what I told you!"

"No, I don't. I think you're extremely brave and strong, but I am not going to fail to do the right thing. The world needs Aang, and I won't abandon a friend."

"It is my destiny to capture the Avatar. I-"

"HEY!" Aang yelled. "I have no idea what's going on, but we all have a seriously bigger problem! Zhao is going to destroy the moon spirit, and if we don't stop him the whole world is going to be messed up! Fire Nation included Zuko, so let go of Katara, and untie me so we can stop him."

"Do you think I'm foolish enough to fall for that? Besides it's impossible to kill the moon spirit, how would he even accomplish that?" Zuko snapped, still holding onto Katara who was not struggling, but looked to be pleading with him gently.

"The Koi fish in the Spirit Oasis are the Ocean and Moon spirits. They came to the mortal world a long time ago. If he destroys the moon spirit, things will get very bad."

"Surely he isn't foolish enough to try to destroy a spirit. Everyone knows not to mess with things of the spirit world," Zuko replied.

"It's Zhao," Aang replied. _Good point_, Zuko thought. "You've freed me from him before Zuko, just let me get back so I can keep this from happening." Katara looked at Zuko with a confused look on her face and then over to Aang as if to say _What!?_

Iroh had taught Zuko all about the Spirit World, and from what he could recall, when he had actually been paying attention, this was serous, and they were the only three who knew about it. _I could allow the Avatar to escape and stop him. I wouldn't be considered a traitor. Just like last time no one would know. Or the Blue Spirit could get in on the action. I've never been one to sit on the side and watch. But I am so close to returning the Avatar home . . . and losing any chance of having Katara as anything other than a prisoner. I've captured him before. I can wait a little longer, as soon as this is over I will go back to chasing him; just like last time._

"Alright, but if you made this story up, and you make a fool of me . . ."

"Relax, I'm telling the truth, I am the Avatar after all. And please let go of Katara." Zuko let go of Katara and reached into his pack and pulled out the mask of the Blue Spirit. _It's a good thing I brought this and wore my black clothes under these snow clothes._ He put the mask on and cut Aang's ropes with the broadsword. He walked towards the mouth of the cave. Katara picked up her parka and put it on and sent Aang a questioning look.

"When you all were sick after the storm and I went to get medicine, I kinda got captured by Zhao, and Zuko is the Blue Spirit. He rescued me, and I ended up saving him from Zhao, when he got knocked out, so he repaid me by letting me escape without chasing me when he woke up. I'm sure the only reason he rescued me from Zhao was so he could capture me himself, but he still did the honorable thing in the end."

"I can hear you, ya know?" Zuko said from in front of them as the trudged through the snow.

. . . . . . . . . . .

"Sokka look!" Yue shouted. She saw three figures walking back in the direction of the village through the snow.

"Katara! Aang! Who is that with them? Is it Zuko? Maybe he freed them from Zuko? Appa, let's go get Aang." The giant bison redirected its path and headed for the trio.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Look! Appa!" Aang shouted.

"Sokka!" Katara ran towards the bison as it landed. "I was so worried about you on your mission!"

"I'm fine sis, I didn't even get to go. Who is that?" Sokka asked. Zuko was wearing his Blue Spirit mask, and had ditched his white snow clothes. Katara knew they didn't have time to argue. "He's helping us, no time to explain! We have to get back to the Spirit Oasis." Everyone climbed on Appa even the Blue Spirit, after Katara motioned for him to join them. On the way back Aang told Sokka and Yue of Zhao's plan and Yue told the group how she had been blessed by the moon spirit. Katara couldn't pay attention; she was too focused on what went on in the cave and Aang's story of Zuko rescuing him from Zhao.

_It makes sense; he would need to be the one to capture Aang so he can regain his honor. He really is obsessive with his mission, but why did he try to kiss me in the cave? Why do I trust him anyways? He could have made it all up, but it just didn't seem like he was. It was so genuine, and it explains a lot. _She decided that he was telling the truth; it had been her initial gut feeling and she decided to go with it.

_This still doesn't explain why he tried to kiss me; I'm sure he's lonely. Was I really going to let him kiss me? He is our enemy, but he's just doing this to get his father's acceptance. I can't imagine Dad not accepting me. After all of this I shouldn't have been willing to let him kiss me, though. What's wrong with me? Maybe I just have a thing for guys with swords, scratch that, jerks with swords. . .not that I have a thing for Zuko! Or Jet anymore. So what if Zuko's attractive, so what if he's good looking and muscular, it's completely fine and normal for me to find him attractive, that doesn't mean I like him. At least Zuko isn't as bad as Jet, he was going to sacrifice innocent lives. Zuko is just trying to capture Aang, one person. The one person keeping the hopes of the world alive, ugggghhh, I have to get my mind off of this. _

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zhao's troops were advancing on the water tribe warriors, but night was beginning to fall. If he was going to act it would have to be now. The full moon would rise in a matter of minutes, and all his progress would be in vain. He motioned for a squad of elite Firebenders to follow him, and they slipped out away from the battle towards the Spirit Oasis. Iroh silently followed Zhao, fearing the worst. Zhao did not see him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zhao arrived at the Spirit Oasis, and walked toward the pool of water in which Twi and La circled each other. Night had fallen and the Waterbenders were beginning to have the upper hand in the battle outside. Zhao reached to pull the white Moon Spirit fish out of the pool.

"Zhao! Don't harm that spirit," Iroh shouted. "You don't know what you're getting into!"

"General Iroh, I never imagined you to be a traitor," Zhao smirked.

"I'm no traitor Zhao, if you harm that Spirit it will hurt the Fire Nation, not just the Water Tibes!" Zhao ignored Iroh and reached into the pool pulling out the fish. The sky and moon turned red and the ocean fish swam around quickly and sporadically around the pool.

"Admiral Zhao who conquered the moon, Zhao the Moonslayer!" Zhao gloated as he lifted the fish into the air.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The gaang watched the sky and moon turn red. "Ahhh" Yue gasped and fell over. Sokka caught her.

"Oh no," he gasped, "We are too late."

"Not yet," said Aang. "We just need to hurry."

"We need a plan," Sokka said. "We don't know how many men Zhao has. Katara, try to hold back the soldiers. Aang-"

"Sokka, she won't be able to waterbend if the moon spirit is in danger. That's where her powers come from," Yue said weakly.

"Ok I will protect Yue and Katara and try to take out as many of the soldiers as I can. Aang go for Zhao and save the spirit. New guy, what's your specialty?"

Zuko unsheathed his broad swords.

"Awesome, your with me, protect the girls and beat back Zhao's soldiers." Zuko glared at him behind his mask for trying to tell him what to do, but before he could figure out a way to protest without speaking Katara broke in.

"Sokka, I don't need protecting! I can take care of myself!"

"With what? Are you going to threaten to sew the soldiers together?" Sokka smirked. Katara glared at him.

They got to the Spirit Oasis and Appa landed right outside. They jumped from the saddle and rushed in; Aang and Zuko in front followed by Katara, Sokka, and Yue.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Zhao whatever you do to that Spirit I will unleash on you tenfold! Put it down now!" Iroh yelled.

"Very well," Zhao said with a sly grin. He dropped the fish into the water, and turned to see the Blue Spirit sprinting towards him. "Well if it isn't the _Blue Spirit_ and the Avatar. You've arrived just in time to whiteness history." Zhao turned and shot fire at the pool, Zuko leapt at the pool arriving just in time to bend the fire away missing the fish, he rolled and landed back on his feet and drew his swords. The soldiers raced at the others who were quickly assisted by Iroh. The Fire Nation soldiers who were elite Firebenders were able to hold back the Avatar from reaching Zhao.

"Drop the act Prince Zuko, you've already Firebended. You may as well go ahead and reveal yourself as a traitor." Zuko stood his ground in front of the pool.

_Zuko? What? Now I'm really confused. _Sokka thought as he stood in front of the girls. Iroh breathed fire and cleared a path for the five to make it to the pool. Sokka grabbed Yue and pulled her close as they stayed on Iroh's and Aang's heels running between the soldiers. Katara ran closely behind them. Zhao saw them from the corner of his eye in his stare down with Zuko. In a split second he lurched to the side and sprinted the short distance to catch up to Katara. He grabbed her left arm with his right hand, and pulled her back against him. Zuko reacted like lightning blazing toward Zhao who lit a fire in his hand and moved it closer to Katara.

"Eh, eh, eh, don't take another step. I was hoping to threaten the Avatar, but you seem to be quite concerned with this girl's safety Prince Zuko, is she the reason you've changed sides? Do you have feelings for the Avatar's waterbender . . . or has she just been doing you . . . _favors?_" Zhao sneered. "She's a very lovely girl, maybe I'll just keep her _for myself_," Zhao spun Katara around and pulled her against him staring malevolently into her eyes as he breathed the last few words.

**Don't worry this isn't going to get nasty with Zhao and Katara. You know Zuko won't let it.**

**Warning lots of Yukka fluff coming in the next chap, too. I love me some Yukka fluff. But as a Zutara fanatic this fic will still be mostly Zutara.**

**Please review! More reviews means I update sooner!**


	3. The Moon Spirit

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Katara gasped and shuddered with fear. Zuko lurched forward, and Zhao's gaze shot up to look at the black clad figure in the blue mask sprinting towards him. He immediately began burning Katara's wrists and Zuko stopped in his tracks. Katara gasped in pain.

"Let her go! What do you want?" Aang yelled from the in front of the pool of water with the disturbed fish.

"Haven't I made that clear?" Zhao remarked with a smirk. "I want to destroy the moon spirit. Step away from it or I will do unthinkable things to your little friend here. All of you step away."

"How are we to know you will release her if we do?" Iroh responded logically.

"You don't know if I will or not, but are you willing to sacrifice this girl?"

They began to step away, Sokka holding Yue close to him to protect her. Zuko backed towards the rest of the group but not quite as far back because he was standing near Zhao to start with. Zhao made his way towards the pool Katara being dragged with him. Upon reaching the edge of the pool Zhao grinned evilly. He looked at the moon spirit fish and firebended at it. Zuko saw his chance. As soon as Zhao looked away he lurched forward knowing Zhao would never let Katara go. Zuko knew he could only save one, Katara or the fish. He didn't even consider saving the fish, and he had no time to question his motives. Zuko swung his broadswords with deadly speed and precision, he aimed to cut off Zhao's arm that connected to the hand holding Katara, but Zhao looked back right in time to see the lightning fast masked man He jerked back, and Zuko's sword only grazed him, leaving a bloody flesh wound. He immediately released Katara who fell to her knees from shock. Zuko quickly scooped her up in his arms and rushed back to the group as Zhao's men rushed forward to attack. Simultaneously, the fish was struck with the fire blast.

"Ahhhhhhhh," Yue fell in pain as the fish was struck and Sokka caught her in his arms. He quickly lifted her and backed away as Zhao's men rushed toward them. At the same tie Aang entered the Avatar state and combined with the ocean spirit. He immediately washed away all of Zhao's soldiers with a large water wave, then he began to take out other fire nation soldiers as he left the Spirit Oasis following a fleeing Zhao.

Seeing that the area was safe as soon as the soldiers were washed away Zuko sat the still shaken Katara down next to her brother who was holding a barely conscious Yue. Zuko sprinted off in the direction Zhao went.

"Sokka ," Yue whispered.

"I'm right here," he responded pulling her closer.

"You have been blessed by the Moon Spirit," Iroh said to Yue as Sokka pulled her back to her feet; Katara stood up too. "It'd life flows through you; maybe if you touched it. . ." He held the body of the Spirit fish in his hands.

"It. . ." Iroh began.

"Oh no, I see where this is going." Sokka pulled her back against him; he looked in her eyes. "I won't let you be hurt. Your father told me to protect you and that is exactly what I am going to do."

"It. . . " Iroh started, but was cut off.

"Sokka something has to happen, the moon is not even in the sky. The Water Tribe will fall to the Fire Nation without the moon. I'm the Princess, my duty is to my people. I will make whatever sacrifice needed. Besides we don't even know if it will hurt me. This is my choice."

"No, it's not! I won't let you, I cannot lose you Yue. I love you!" He pulled her firmly against him and pressed his lips to hers passionately. He wrapped his arms around her waist and her hands cupped his cheeks. He deepened the kiss. Katara felt weird watching her brother make out with her friend, and for some reason her thoughts wandered to Zuko.

_Is he ok? He went after Zhao all alone. Oh yeah Aang said Zuko is a better Firebender than Zhao. I hope he is ok . . . just because he has been helping us . . . no other reason. Why was I so weak? This is all my fault. Why did I just fall down like a wimp and let him carry me? Did I want to be carried by Zuko? Well he does have strong muscular arms. . . I was captured by Zhao, he threatened me that would be enough to shake any girl. I just don't want to be the damsel in distress, Yue seems to have that covered, not that there is anything wrong with it, but it isn't me. I am the strong fighter girl who takes care of herself and her friends. Right?_

Yue finally lightly pushed Sokka away and like a gentleman , he backed off immediately. Iroh chuckled, "I have been trying to tell you it will not hurt her. Young people are so dramatic." He chuckled thinking of his nephew. "Some of the Spirit's energy in her will transfer back into the fish; she will be weak for a few days but will not be harmed." Iroh smiled.

Katara mentally fussed at herself for thinking of Zuko on such a way in a time like this. Yue looked at Sokka, and he released her. She lightly touched the fish in Iroh's hand and felt her strength fade. She fainted, and Sokka caught her and held her close. The fish was revived and Iroh released it into the pool again. Katara reached out and tried to Waterbend a ling ribbon of water wound out of the pool just as she had intended. She smiled brightly at her brother who returned her smile with a worried on of his own.

"She will be ok Sokka; she is very brave. I'm sorry, this is my fault, if hadn't been so foolish as to allow Zhao to capture me. . ."

"It's ok sis, it's not like you tried to be captured," he smiled. "I'm glad Zuko was able to get you away from that creep. I can't believe what I'm saying. You and Aang owe me an explanation."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko caught up to Zhao, he still had his swords drawn. Zhao turned and smirked at him.

"Are you really such a coward that you would fight an injured opponent wit swords and Firebneding?" Zhao taunted, trying to get in Zuko's head. Zhao would never admit it but he knew Zuko was the better Firebender from their last encounter. Zuko sheathed his swords and got in a fighting stance.

"After I defeat you I will go back and get your little girlfriend, and she and I will have a _very very fun _evening" Zhao said malevolently, and it had the exact effect he had wanted. Zuko charged him angrily, and with less control than he normally had, just as Zhao had hoped. The two began to fight. "So when did she begin _paying_ you to help them?" Zhao asked. "And how many other men has she offered her services to in her noble quest to help the Avatar?" Zhao could tell Zuko had feelings for the girl, so attacking her character even if it was obviously not the actual situation was the route he decided to take. If he could get Zuko angry enough, he had a chance at winning this fight. "I may even let my men have some fun with her. She's quite an attractive girl isn't she prince Zuko?" The two continued to fight, Zuko was winning. Zhao's plan had backfired. Zuko already had anger problems, so he was used to the idea of fighting angry, and he was still able to focus. The two were on a bridge fighting when the Avatar/ Ocean Spirit came towards them and busted through the bridge clearly going after Zhao, the Blue Spirit jumped toward the ice embankment, he tried to think of a way to help Zhao but it was too late. The Ocean Spirit had taken him. Part of Zuko was glad, part of him wished he had done it himself, and the biggest part of him knew it was the right thing to help Zhao, and he would have tired, but the Spirit took out the man in no time.

Zuko climbed up the embankment; he saw that the Fire Nation troops were being captured by the Water Tribe or fleeing to their ships. Zhao was dead and the men he had with him we being captured as he watched. _Good, they were the only ones who knew the identity of the Blue Spirit, and from Water Tribe prisons they won't be able to tell the Fire Lord. I sound more and more like a traitor by the minute. . ._

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"I need you to do something for myself and my nephew," Iroh began. "Please do not tell anyone of my nephew's alter ego as the Blue Spirit."

"Don't worry," Katara said, "We wouldn't do that. We really appreciate your help; both of you."

Iroh nodded. "I must go and find Zuko."

"Do you think he is ok?" Katara asked.

"My nephew is a very powerful bender. I am certain he defeated Zhao, if the Avatar didn't show up too soon and beat him to it that is," Iroh smiled. "I hope one day soon we will meet again as allies."

_A powerful bender, _Katara remembered the words of the fortune teller.

. . . . . . . . . .

Iroh quickly found Zuko, hurry my nephew I have a plan. The Blue Spirit and been sprinting back to the Spirit Oasis. Iroh quickly told Zuko that he was going to have to change clothes quickly and they would board a Fire Nation ship explaining that theirs was destroyed by pirates. Iroh with his high ranking status would be able to get them another ship very soon and find their old crew. Things would go back to normal. Zuko nodded and the plan took action, but first he asked Iroh.

"Is the Waterbender ok?"

"Yes she is," Iroh smiled.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka carried Yue back to the palace, followed by Katara and Aang who had just returned and came out of the Avatar state. They found Yue's father who gasped when he saw his daughter being carried. She was awake but very weak.

"I'm fine father," she replied. "I had to give some of my energy back to the Moon Spirit. He smiled, rushed over to hug her and Sokka awkwardly.

"How did our soldiers do? How many did we lose?" She asked as the group walked into the throne room. She was still being carried by Sokka.

"Few casualties, thanks to the Avatar, however, Hahn your fiancé didn't make it."

Yue looked hurt, a few tears streaked down her face. Sokka saw them and sat her down and left. Katara understood though, she looked at the group.

"I will be right back"

She ran after her brother. "Sokka!"

She caught up with him outside. "Sokka, don't tell me you stormed off because you think she is crying for Hahn."

"Of course that's why I left! I thought she was in love with me but now she is crying for him."

"Sokka, she is crying because some she knew and cared about as _a human being_ not a lover was killed. Believe me, I'm a girl, if she really loved him the way she loves you she would be having a lot more than a few tears right now. I know if anything happened to . . ." _What was that!? Did I almost say Zuko? What is wrong with me? I don't have feelings for him._

It was a good thing Sokka didn't catch that part; he looked to be thinking what she had said about Yue over deeply.

"I guess you're right."

The siblings walked back inside, and Yue's face lit up when she saw Sokka. She had taken off her betrothal necklace and laid it next her.

"My daughter is quite tired. Could you take her to her chambers?" The chief asked Sokka and Katara.

Sokka lifted Yue up and Katara addressed her father, "Would you like for me to stay with Yue tonight? In case she needs anything?"

"Yes please do." He smiled at his daughter. "I'm so proud of you!"

She returned the smile and laid her head on Sokka's shoulder. He carried her to her chambers trailed by Aang and Katara whose was berating herself for allowing her mind to wander to when Zuko carried her. She felt that she had the better end of the deal than Yue, she laughed to herself and smiled seeing how the couple was happy together.

They entered Yue's room and Sokka laid her on her bed.

"Why did you leave earlier?" Yue asked.

"You were crying for that jerk. I'm glad he's gone."

"Sokka! I didn't love him but he is a person, a member of the Water tribe. I didn't want to marry him, but I didn't want it to be because he died either."

"Katara said something like that to me. She said she understood because she is a girl. I'm sorry Yue. I shouldn't have been upset, but I just want you for myself so much, and he was a complete jerk too."

"Sokka, I want to be with you too." She smiled and he pulled her up into another deep kiss. Aang and Katara had already wandered out to Yue's balcony to escape the awkwardness.

"I'm proud of you Aang, Katara said. For a twelve year old kid you sure have got things under control."

"Well I did go into the Avatar state."

"That's not what I'm talking about. You, Aang, are a great Avatar, you were so focused ever since we first saw the Fire Nation ships and you saved all these people." The young airbender smiled at his friend.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Aang stuck around with the girls a little while longer before it was time to go to bed, and then they headed off to their end of the palace where their rooms were. Katara and Yue chatted as they got ready for bed and put their pajamas on. They sat on Yue's giant bed and talked about Sokka. Katara told Yue funny stories about him when he was younger and even recent ones.

"Katara, who was that guy in the black suit and blue mask? Was it really Zuko?"

"Yeah, it was."

"Well what happened for him to go from capturing Aang and you to helping us? What did Sokka and I miss?"

Katara's blushed when she remembered the cave. Yue giggled. "Ok, your face is telling on you! Tell me what happened! Was it romantic?" Yue held her hands together and had a huge smile on her face. Katara knew her blush had given her away.

"Ok, but you can't tell Sokka, he would go try to kill Zuko." Yue squealed with excitement. "This is going to be good!"

Katara told Yue everything form the time she had left, including when he tried to kiss her, and how she was going to let him until Aang came back. "Oh! Couldn't he have waited two minutes!? That is soooooo romantic!" Katara finished her story and told Yue how she wished she hadn't let him carry her. "Why not? Yue asked?"

"He is our enemy, and I am supposed to be strong and take care of myself."

"You are strong," Yue said, "and he wasn't our enemy then. Do you like him? Oh this is so romantic, just forget I asked, I know you like him and I know you won't admit it."

"Something his uncle said about him being a powerful bender made me think," Katara told Yue about Aunt Woo, and went on to tell her about all the encounters she had had with Zuko. She told her about when he said "I'll save you from the pirates." And how it had made her gasp, and how he had tied her to a tree and circled her, teasing her with the necklace. It gave her goose bumps. He was so mysterious that night.

"We have to get you two to see each other again. Maybe Zhao was right about one thing, maybe he will change sides for you, minus all the dirty stuff. I want to travel with you all. I want to be with Sokka, and I want to see your romance with Zuko play out."

"It's not a romance," Katara wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or her friend.

Yue shot her a look.

**So that's how Siege of the North ends in my version, but I am far from done with my story! This is called Caves (that's plural ;) ) and so far there has only been one cave.**

**Please review, I forgot to ask last time so I will now: What did ya'll think of my Zutara "almost" kiss? Did you like that?**

**How about the Yukka Stuff was that good? **

**I really wanna hear what you people think about this so I can improve it!**

**Tell me what your fav part was. Just talk to me please! I am being needy!**


	4. Eaves Dropping and Dress Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Air Bender**

**Ok, so thank you to all who review, you inspire me to keep going! I have been uber busy lately because of my engineering classes. The only reason I am writing this right now is because surveying lab only lasted 10 minutes today. **

**This chap has a lot of Yukka stuff in it! Don't worry there is talk of Zutara too. This is kinda a set up chap for the next on which will be major Zutara! And I promise Zuko is in this chap eventually!**

**On with the story!**

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning life began to go back to normal, that is, it would if these teenagers' lives could be considered normal. Sokka and Aang woke up early, actually Sokka woke up early, and threw pillows at the exhausted Avatar sleeping on the other side of the room until he too awoke groggily.

"Sokka, the sun isn't even up. What are you doing up so early?"

"I want to go see Yue before I have to go to warrior training, and I want you to come, so Katara will talk to you and we can have some time alone."

"Okay," Aang yawned. The mention of seeing the Waterbender was enough to make him get out of bed, but he was still tired. The boys wandered through the palace to Yue's room. It was about an hour before sunrise, at which time Aang and Katara were required to meet Pakku for waterbending training and Sokka was to meet with the other warriors. The boys walked closer to Yue's door and heard giggling they looked at each other and sneakily tip-toed up to the door and leaned against it to listen.

Katara woke up a few minutes ago, still too energized by the events of the night before to get much rest. Her stirring had woken Yue, who sat up with a smile on her face, and said, "I sure hope Sokka comes to see me today."

Katara giggled. "It's so weird hearing someone talk about my brother the way you do."

"He's such a cutie; I just can't stop myself, and he is so strong and brave." Yue smiled widely.

"And smelly and obnoxious," Katara continued. Both girls giggled. That's when the boys had arrived and began eaves dropping.

"I just can't wait to see him; I have never been this in love. I've always dreamed about it."

"Don't we all," Katara said sighing. Suddenly, thoughts of Zuko popped into her mind. She tried to push them away.

"And when he wraps his arms around me and kisses me," Yue continued, "those blue eyes light up my world."

"Oh give me a break," Aang sighed and whispered to Sokka who instantly shushed him.

"This is getting good," the warrior smirked, hearing every word perfectly. The Avatar rolled his eyes.

"And I feel so safe in his arms," she smiled. "Is that how it felt when Zuko held you in the cave to help you get warm?"

"WHAT!?" the door burst open and Sokka practically ran over Aang to get in the room. "Who did what with who in a cave?" Katara hadn't even had the chance to think about a response before her older brother who had clearly been eaves dropping pounced into the room.

"SOKKA!" Katara yelled and threw a pillow at him. "Were you listening to our conversation?"

"Well we, I, Don't change the subject! I asked you a question first!"

"Hmmph," was Katara's only response. She crossed her arms and acted much angrier than she actually was in order to avoid her brother's question. She got up and began walking out the door when she saw the Avatar still sitting in the doorway.

"You too Aang?"

"He he he," he fake laughed nervously.

"Well let's go grab some breakfast since we are up then we can go meet Pakku," Katara said to him still trying to avoid any questions that could arise from either boy about the happenings in the cave. Aang got up and followed her knowing better than to ask any questions.

"Sokka, how long were you listening?" Yue asked still sitting in her bed.

"Just long enough to hear how crazy you are about me, and how good looking I am," the warrior smirked.

Yue couldn't help but smile at him, everything about him was just so darn cute. Sokka sat on the side of her bed and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The two went for a short walk around the palace then Sokka had to go to warrior training; he kissed her goodbye passionately pulling her against him into his warm embrace.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka had a hard time focusing at training that day. He was primarily focused on how happy and in love he was with Yue, but a small part of him was burning with overprotective curiosity about what the girls had been saying about Katara and Zuko. He made a note to interrogate them further that evening. Katara had managed to avoid it this morning, but she wouldn't outsmart him again. If only he hadn't been so intoxicated by the sight of Yue, he could have focused on getting an answer out of Katara. He knew how girls were, though; he would have to talk to Katara alone. If Yue were there they would work together against him, and he would never get anything out of them. Plus he was pretty sure he was already whipped, he would do anything Yue asked, even drop the subject.

On the way back to the palace he saw Katara and Aang walking together after bending practice. _Great Aang will want to know to. Maybe we can get her to spill. No Firebender is going to be hitting on my baby sister. Even if he did help us._

"Aang! Katara! Wait up!" Sokka ran up to join them. He wasted no time when he reached them.

"Katara, what was Yue talking about this morning when she said something about Zuko holding you to keep you warm in the cave?"

"Yeah, and why did you tell him you understood why he was chasing me while we were in the cave?" Aang asked.

"Well, he told me why and he has a really good reason. He isn't a bad person, just in a bad situation."

"What possible reason would make it ok to hunt down the world's last hope?" Sokka asked seriously not realizing his first question was yet again avoided. "Enlighten us Katara. Now that you are his official spokesperson for the group and you have defended him. The guy chasing Aang!"

"It's not my place to tell, and it doesn't make what he is doing right, but know he has a good reason!" Katara said angrily.

"So what happened in the cave before I woke up?" Aang asked. Katara's face went red.

"Nothing! Nothing happened."

"Then what was Yue talking about him holding you?! Did he try anything? Because so help me I will . . ."

"No, Sokka, he didn't hurt me." Katara said defensively. They were close to the palace, Katara quickly hurried ahead before the boys could continue their interrogation. She started to jog towards Yue's room. When she got there she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Yue's voice came from the other side of the room. Katara did, and she saw Yue going through the clothes in her closet.

"Which one would Sokka like?" she asked. Katara closed the door and walked toward the closet with Yue. She began to look through clothes with her.

"Yue please help me. Sokka is interrogating me about Zuko, and I'm a horrible liar. He always sees right through my lies."

"No worries, I have a plan. Just help me find a dress . . ."

Katara giggled. "I see where this is going." The girls quickly settled on a lavender strapless dress with a white see through shawl that Yue draped overreach of her arms at the elbow. The dress was tight fitting to the knees and then flowed out. **(Mermaid dress, if you know what those are). **

"He isn't going to be able to take his eyes off you!" Katara said to her friend.

"And hopefully he will forget all about you and Zuko." Katara blushed.

"You like him. Stop trying to deny it; it's very romantic Katara. You two are like Oma and Shu."

**(Foreshadowing, Da duh da duh da duh (insert shark music here))**

"Like who?" Yue told Katara the story of Oma and Shu, the two earthbending lovers, as Katara helped her do her hair. She had heard it as a little girl.

"That is so romantic, but Zuko and I wouldn't work like that. There is too much hate between the nations, it wouldn't work."

"No, Katara you and Zuko are exactly like that. There was just as much hate and war between those villages as there is today between the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation."

Katara couldn't say anything. Yue was right. The circumstances were so similar, maybe love could bring the world out of war. What was she thinking? First she didn't eve like Zuko, or so she told herself and secondly she just couldn't love someone from the Fire Nation.

"Yue I just can't love someone from the Fire Nation. This war has taken so much."

"Oma and Shu," Yue retorted. "Besides, you said yourself that Zuko has good reasons for what he is doing, and that he is not evil, and I agree with you."

"Maybe your right," Katara said, "maybe it would help the world to love again if . . ."

"Come on," Yue said, walking toward her gigantic closet. "Let's pick you out something pretty for the next time you see him."

"Okay, if the good of the world depends on it," Katara smiled and walked to the closet with Yue. They began going through clothes, most of which Katara noted were her favorite two colors: blue and purple, traditional blue for the water tribes, and water tribe princesses traditionally wear purple. She found one white dress though that caught her attention, and she pulled it out, and sat it with her array of blue and purple attire that she intended to try on.

Just then there was a knock at the door. The girls looked at each other.

"Who is it?" Yue asked.

"Sokka and Aang, we are looking for Katara. Have you seen her?"

Yue smiled at Katara and straightened her outfit up. She had added a large silver necklace, earrings and strappy sandals to it. Her hair was done up elaborately as always.

"She is in here, come on in."

"Sokka swung the door open with Aang on his heels. Saw Katara first.

"We looked everywhere for you!"

"She just came by to see me," a voice said from the side. Sokka turned and saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He instantly forgot about interrogating Katara. A stupid looking grin slid across his face. He was still sweaty and dirty from warrior training and had several weapons attached to his back including his trusty boomerang and a few large knives. Yue thought he looked rugged and very attractive.

"I was wandering, could you escort me to the moonlight ballroom? I have been wanting to go dancing in the moon light. I also hear it's a very long and dangerous way. I need a strong and brave warrior to protect me. Are you strong and brave?" Yue asked sweetly as she walked toward Sokka and placed her hand on his bicep as she said the last part. Sokka was trying to recover from shock; he nodded a held his arm out allowing her to hold on to it as he lead her out the door. _Oh she's good._ Katara thought.

Aang and Katara decided to explore the area while Sokka and Yue went on their first official date. By the time they reached the moonlight ballroom Sokka had recovered from shock.

"May I have this dance my lady?" he asked once they had walked out on the floor.

"How could any girl say no to a brave Water Tribe warrior?"

The two began to dance. Sokka spun Yue around and whirled her back into his arms. He had no idea what he was doing of course, but it was fun and she seemed to enjoy it. He took her right hand in his and put his left hand around her waist as she put her left hand on his shoulder. They slow danced and Sokka put both arms around her waist and pulled her in close and kissed her.

"You make me the happiest man alive. I love you."

"I love you, too Sokka."

They leaned forward again and kissed. It was a very long, lovingly gentle kiss. Neither of them wanted it to end, but they had to come up for air eventually.

"You are so beautiful."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Later that night Katara and Aang wandered back to the palace and Yue and Sokka also came back just a little after, it was about time to go to bed and Yue kissed Sokka goodnight. Katara and Yue left for Yue's room.

"We will find you an outfit tomorrow," said Yue.

"Sounds good," Katara yawned. She dreamed about her experience in the cave with Zuko that night.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Fire Nation Navy ships were still heading back to Fire Nation waters. Iroh had obtained a ship out of the fleet. He and Zuko were on board, and they began to send messages via hawks to the other ships searching for their old crew. Eventually they located them and were able to get the whole crew back together, though it took most of the day. The battle at the North Pole had been the day before yesterday. Once the crew had gotten together, Zuko assemble them and informed them that they would be heading for the Earth Kingdom, because that is where he believed the Avatar to be going. Zuko thought the Avatar would never have stayed at the North Pole for more than a few days. He was wrong, Aang was still needing to master Waterbending.

"Prince Zuko," Iroh called to him after he had spoken with his men. "Why are we still going after the Avatar?"

"Uncle don't be a fool; you know why. I must regain my honor."

"Zuko, I do not know how to saw this. I do not believe this will work. Ozai is bound to find out about the Blue Spirit. It may not be soon, but he will know. Zuko, this is not what we need to be doing. I realized that more than ever in the North Pole. The Fire Nation is led by my evil brother, the one who scarred and banished his own son. All we are doing is bringing harm to the world Zuko. This must stop. I do not believe Ozai will accept you back Prince Zuko."

"What are you talking about? My father loves me and wants me back. It is my destiny to serve him and deliver the Avatar. I know it isn't right, but it is what I must do. Not all of us are destined to sit around and drink TEA!"

"Zuko, you must not be so certain of your destiny. You are following the one your father gave you. It is time for you to have your own. You showed that at the North Pole by doing the right thing." With that Iroh walked away leaving his nephew to think about his last words.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

That evening Katara returned from Waterbending with Aang and went towards Yue's room.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked.

"Playing dress up," Katara giggled.

Aang's face said it all. "I'm gonna go find Sokka."

"Sure you don't wanna play?" Katara laughed.

"I'm sure!"

Katara walked on to Yue's room.

"Yay! You're here! I have been so excited about finding you an outfit!"

Katara walked over to the stack of dresses that she had pulled out the day before and went to Yue's bathroom to try them on. The first thing she wanted to try was the flowing white one. It looked like a princess dress which was fitting, obviously. It flowed out at the bottom and the sleeves near the wrists. The rest of it clung to her petite figure, and it was low cut. There was a split up the left leg side of the dress and a silver sparkly ribbon served as a very low belt. There was a matching silver ribbon that hemmed the top of the dress around the neck shoulders and low cut front. _Sokka would not want me wearing this._ It fit her perfectly. She took her hair out of the braid and let it fall loose, thinking it would work better with the dress. She stepped out of the bathroom and Yue squealed.

"You're gorgeous in that! It is yours!"

"No I couldn't take it from you," Katara said.

"It's too short, it's from when I was about your age, and I have gotten taller since then. Please take it."

"Ok I will," Katara smiled. "I love it! I feel so beautiful like a princess!"

"Zuko's gonna love it too." Yue giggled. Katara shot her a look. "So what am I supposed to do? Get on a boat sail out to sea and raise a white flag that says _Prince Zuko come capture me._ And then I pull a stunt like you did with Sokka the other night?" Both girls laughed. "Well I don't think you'll have to pull a stunt like that. Zuko seems to be pretty bold, and if you wear that you'll have to beat him off with a stick."

"Or some really good Waterbending."

"Try the next one on!" The next dress was sparkly light blue. It came up in the front middle and connected to a silver collar around her neck. Other than that it was sleeveless. It fit tightly like the last one but the material was slightly thicker. It flowed out at the knees though not near as much as Yue's purple dress had. This was more of a slight gradual flow.

Yue loved this one too. "Keep it!" Katara ended up keeping these two as well as another light blue one, two navy ones and a purple one.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Two weeks passed, and Zuko arrived in the Earth kingdom and docked his ship and began his search for the Avatar.

Meanwhile, in the North Pole, Katara had mastered Waterbending, and they were needing to leave and start Aang's Earthbending training. Yue had regained all her strength and insisted Sokka allow her to go with them.

"No, it's too dangerous. I will come back for you after the war is ended. I promise. We only have eight months til Sozin's Comet so it will be no longer than eight months," the warrior promised.

"Sokka I am not scared, I know I won't contribute to the fighting, but I can help in other ways. I want to go with you. I have never even left the North Pole. Please," she betted her eyelashes at him, and he gave in knowing her dad would never let her go.

Sokka was proven wrong though, Yue had managed to talk her dad into it. She reminded him she needed to see the world, and Sokka had done an excellent job protecting her thus far.

The four teens loaded up their new belongings on Appa. Pakku had given Katara spirit water when she had mastered Waterbending. She was to continue to instruct Aang. The plotted a course for the Earth kingdom and arrived within a few days.

**For the next chap we will fast forward to the episode The Cave of Two Lovers. Sorry for the lack of Zuko in this Chap. He is my favorite character, but there really wasn't much going on on his end in this chap. No worries lots of Zuko next time, and you will get to see what he is thinking.**

**Ok so please review. Make suggestions. Tell me what you think. I will try to make this story the way the readers like it. Thank yall for your support.**

**I beg of you please review!**


	5. Zuko's Angel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**Ok so as I said at the end of my last chapter, this starts about a week after Aang and the gaang arrive in the Earth kingdom at the beginning of The Cave of Two Lovers. Zuko has been in the Earth Kingdom a little over a week, looking for Aang. I am skipping the episode The Avatar State because the events that happen to Zuko do not line up with my story because Ozai doesn't know Iroh and Zuko betrayed the Fire Nation. (Zhao is dead and his elite Firebenders are in prison in the Northern Water Tribe, so no one told Ozai) You can assume that the events that happen to Aang in that episode did occur, the only difference being Yue was with them.**

**For the beginning of the Cave of Two Lovers I am just going to do a tiny recap, but not go into great detail as I am sure you have seen it, and it isn't relevant to my plot. **

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue lounged in the water while Aang and Katara practiced Waterbending. Sokka began to complain that they needed to hurry up and go on to Omashu. A group of nomads came by the water singing and playing musical instruments. The groups quickly became friends and began sharing stories. Some of the women in the group braided flowers into Katara and Yue's hair. Sokka was not amused; he kept complaining that they needed to get to Omashu so Boomi could teach Aang earthbending. Mention of this brought up a secret tunnel to Omashu, and the nomads began singing about it, much to Sokka's disdain. Aang expressed his appreciation for the information, but told the nomads they would stick with flying because Appa hated being underground.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko walked quickly scouting a new section of earth kingdom for the avatar. He had been doing this for a little over a week. They would dock their ship in a well hidden area along the earth kingdom coast and he, Iroh, and a handful of his men would travel through the woods and even venture near some towns searching for the avatar. They would stay no longer than a day or two in any given area before going back to the ship and traveling on to dock somewhere further along the coast line.

Zuko was his usual moody self, though he was somewhat distracted. He had been considering what his Uncle told him about destiny a short time ago, and he couldn't seem to get his mind off of Katara. The events in the cave played through his head, and of course the avatar returned from the spirit world the moment he was about to kiss her. Why did the world hate him? _It doesn't matter, I will try again. I never give up._ Perhaps what had shock him the most was that she was actually going to let him kiss her. He smirked at the thought;it was stroking his ego and filling him with the haughty male pride that guys get when a pretty girl likes them. Speaking of pretty girls, he couldn't seem to get her out of his head; she had been so beautiful before, but with her hair down a whole new level was added. And he got to save her from Zhao and carry her away, for some reason he had really enjoyed being her hero, just as he had almost wanted to with the pirates, and thinking about it made him smile. He would quickly wipe the smile off his face if his uncle or any of the crew took notice though.

He had already given in to the fact that he liked her, heck he was crazy about her. He stopped denying it to himself the night he tried to kiss her. He couldn't get her out of his thoughts since he left the Northern Water Tribe. It was decided; he was going to kiss her, really kiss her, if it was the last thing he did.

Zuko was interrupted from his thoughts when his uncle randomly stopped walking and knelt down in front of a white and red flower. Zuko and the men stopped.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" Zuko asked as his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose trying to focus on controlling his anger.

"You're looking at the rare White Dragon Bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious it's heart breaking. That or it's the White Jade Bush which is poisonous."

"Uncle, we don't need tea. You can just get some when we are on the ship, after we find the avatar."

"Hmmm delectable tea or deadly poison?"

Zuko sighed with aggravation and kept walking, followed by his men.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The gaang climbed onto Appa Aang sat on the back of his neck while Sokka and Yue sat on the left side of the saddle and Katara sat on the right. They took off over the mountain, but as soon as they made it halfway over the Fire Nation soldiers spotted them and began to shoot at them with giant flaming balls from huge catapults. It quickly got overwhelming and very dangerous; the group had to turn around. Appa flew as fast as he could back to the other side. Fireballs kept whizzing by their heads. Suddenly, a fireball flew right by Katara glancing her arm and setting her sleeve on fire.

"Ah!" The flame caught on to the rest of her dress.

"Katara!" Sokka yelled as Yue screamed. Katara quickly bended the water out of her water pouch and onto herself. She had only minor burns because she had doused it before it burned completely through her clothes, except her sleeve was totally burned up. The rest of her dress was singed and ruined. Aang turned and saw what happened to Katara.

"No! Katara!" He hastened Appa on, knowing Katara's water had all evaporated and shee needed more to heal the burns on her arm.

"I'm ok Aang," a shaken Katara replied.

They quickly landed and Katara ran to the water and jumped in it. She needed to heal her arm and she wanted to be surrounded by the soothing cool of her element. After a few minutes the gaang walked over to the water.

"I'm ok," Katara smiled. I didn't have major burn, but Yue, I am going to need a new dress."

The princess nodded and walked to Appa. She got out the white dress Katara had loved so much.

"All of the other clothes we have packed are formal dresses," Yue said as she handed Katara the dress.

"Then it will have to do," Katara went and changed. Yue had given her the jewelry and shoes that matched the dress, she knew Katara loved that outfit and wanted to cheer her up after what had just happened. Katara let her hair out of the braid. It worked better with the dress that way. She walked out from behind the bush she had changed behind.

"No." That was all Sokka said at first. She gave him a confused look even though she knew the problem. "Go put some clothes on."

"Sokka I am wearing clothes!"

"I don't want any creeps looking at my baby sister."

"Sokka you, Aang, and those nomad guys are the only guys here, and none of you are creeps. I'm wearing this dress so just deal with it!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko suddenly saw a large fire fight in the distant sky. A grin slid across his face.

"Got you now." Zuko ran through the woods toward the occurrence' his men following.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The gaang found the nomads again and asked them to lead the way to the secret tunnel. The nomads explained that the lovers made a whole labyrinth of tunnels rather than just one. Lilly assured the gaang that all they needed to do was allow love to guide them and they would make it through. All they need to do is trust in love, according to the curse.

Sokka stopped in his tracks, "Curse?!"

Yue giggled and grabbed his hand stepping close to him. "I'm sure we will be ok Sokka." She gave him a light peck on the lips.

They told the gaang if they didn't trust in love they would be stuck in the cave until they die. Then the leader remembered the rest of the song and began to play it.

"That's it! There is no way we are going through some cursed hole!" Sokka proclaimed.

"Hey someone's making a big campfire!"

"That's no campfire, Moku."

"That's Fire Nation; they are tracking us," Sokka responded.

"So all you need is to trust in love to get through these caves?" Aang asked.

"That is correct, Master Arrowhead."

"We can make it," Aang said after gazing at Katara.

"You bet we can!" Yue said while kissing Sokka's cheek.

"Everyone into the hole."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko ran so fast his men could barely keep in hearing rang of him, and Uncle Iroh lagged even further behind. Zuko saw the group enter the cave in the far distance, by the time he reach the mouth the group were well into the cave. Hiss men arrived shortly after. He turned to them.

"Go back to the ship. Tell the men to sail to the other side of the mountain. Cut off the Avatar and his friends and capture them if I haven't already." The men immediately ran off and Iroh arrived.

"Uncle, you and I are going to go into the cave and get the Avatar."

"Nephew, this is a cursed cave. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Don't tell me you are foolish enough to believe some legendary curse Uncle."

"It is real Prince Zuko. To make it through you must trust in love." Iroh got a mischievous look on his face. "Of course the Waterbender is in there, so perhaps you will make it through."

And just like that his mind was back on Katara. "Uncle the curse is not real, but if you are scarred you can go back to the ship with the men."

"I am not afraid Prince Zuko. I was concerned about you making it through, but now that I know the Waterbender is in there you will be just fine." He smiled.

Zuko growled and walked into the tunnel. Was he really that obvious about his feelings for the peasant?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka was leading the group through the cave desperately trying to make a map of the area so they could figure their way out. The only problem was they seemed to be going in circles, and running into dead ends.

"We don't need a map; we just need love. The little guy knows it."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map also," Aang replied.

"There is something strange here, there is only one explanation. The tunnels are changing."

As the group bemoaned the situation a giant wolf bat began to attack causing chaos to ensue. The group ran around avoiding its attack. Sokka swung his torch at it and some of the fire flew onto Appa's foot. The bison groaned and jumped around running into the walls of the cave. Katara ran towards Appa trying to calm him so she could heal his foot, but the giant bison ran past her and into another wall and then another. The structural integrity of the cave began to give way and the ceiling collapsed into rubble between where Katara was standing and the rest of the group. Sokka, Yue and Aang sprinted toward the new wall of rock and Sokka began to dig for his little sister.

"It's no use we are separated," Aang said after a moment of digging.

"We will find you Katara!" Sokka yelled. Sokka was willing to try anything at this point even if it meant believing the curse. He grabbed Yue and kissed her.

"Cave! We are in love! Can't you see this! Now let me find my baby sister!" Sokka yelled. Nothing happened, so he grabbed Yue's hand and lead her down a tunnel followed by the rest of the group. He was going to find his sister one way or the other.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko groaned. He hurried through the cave with Iroh on his heels searching every which way for the Avatar.

"We have already been by here!" But this time the old tunnel was blocked and he saw a new one opened slightly to the left. He wandered into it as Iroh stopped to examine the blocked passageway. Suddenly the ceiling gave out between Iroh and Zuko leaving them separated.

"Arrgggghhhhh!" Zuko growled, flames shooting from his fists in anger. He turned and began stomping away further into the cave.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Katara was alone in the dark. She didn't have a torch and now she was terrified. _Alone in a pitch black cave in a ball gown of all things. This will be a good story for my grandkids. If I make it out of here. . . _she refused to let fear take her over. After all she was a master Waterbender so surely she could handle a dark lonely cave. She sighed as she felt for the wall. She kept her hand on the wall and walked through the blackness taking careful steps in case there was a drop off. _Alright Katara, trust in love. _

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko began to calm down as he continued to walk through the tunnel cradling a small flame in his right hand for light. He began to hear what he thought was the sound of light footsteps. He could see another tunnel joining his ahead and stopped walking to listen further. Sure enough someone was coming, but the tunnel that joined his was at an angle and he couldn't see who. He began to expect Iroh because it was a single set of footsteps and he knew the Avatar always traveled in a group. He decided to wait and see who it was before saying anything or yelling out. He began to debate over whether or not to put out his fire as to take the person by surprise when he heard a voice yell out "Help me! Please help me!" It was definitely female and coming from the tunnel ahead. It sounded like a certain Waterbender. But why would she be alone? He sprinted toward the tunnel.

Katara had seen a dim light ahead and knew someone was near. She didn't want to take them by surprise, so she began to yell out for help. A figure dashed around the corner and was running toward her. _Oh no, that wasn't torch light. It's a Firebender. Oh bad, oh bad bad, this is bad. _Katara turned and began to run back to where she came from. He was gaining on her.

"Katara wait!" _Zuko?_ She spun around just as he caught up with her. He grabbed both her wrists to prevent her from trying to run away again, dropping the flame as he did so. The cave went pitch black again.

"Zuko? What are you doing here? Can you turn the light back on?" she asked as she struggled in his grasp. He released her and lit another flame.

"Chasing the Av. . . a . . . tar. . ." Zuko mumbled as light surrounded the beauty in front of him. She was wearing a tight fitting low cut white dress, and he was staring at her. He knew he was. He also knew it was rude to stare, but he didn't care. His eyes traveled up and down her body starting at her blue eyes and all the way down her torso to the leg that was peeking out of the slit and down to her foot decorated by a sliver high heeled sandal. His eyes traveled back up her leg and slowed at her tiny tight waist; he took his time raising them to the plunging silver neckline. His eyes traveled up to her face which was deep red because she was blushing. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but before he got the chance she cut in, scattering his thoughts.

"Shouldn't we try to find a way out of here?" she asked trying to break the awkwardness, well to her it was awkward, but not to Zuko. He snapped out of it. He blushed when he realized how awkward he must have made her feel and turned and began to lead her down the tunnel.

_Yue was right. I think Zuko did like the dress. _Her cheeks turned red as she remembered him staring at her. _I wander how he found us here._ She decided not to ask, because he might remember what he was here for and stop being distracted by her. She hoped the plan she and Yue had cooked up to get Zuko stop chasing Aang would work. For some reason, the thought of falling in love with Zuko didn't seem so bad since she had gotten to know him in the cave at the North Pole. Though she wouldn't admit it out loud he was attractive. _Very attractive. _She loved his scar; it made him look rugged and mysterious. And he was strong and muscular. He was wearing his armor and it made him look even more muscular. She was glad she was walking behind him because now _she_ was the one staring.

They came to a large stone door. "The way out?" she asked. Zuko shrugged and began pushing on the door. She pushed also, though she knew she wasn't much help. Pretty soon it budged and fell forward. They stepped into another room.

"This isn't the exit."

"It's a tomb."

"These pictures tell a story." Katara walked forward and began to look at the pictures. "Wait! This is the story of Oma and Shu! They are the two lovers from the legend. I know this story. Yue told me. So _this_ is the cave where they would meet."

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked coldly. Katara told him the story of Oma and Shu as they looked at the pictures carved in the cave.

"Love is brightest in the dark." She read the inscription by the carving of the two lovers.

"So, they were on opposing sides, but they loved each other anyways, and their love brought peace," Zuko said, recapping what Katara had just said. He couldn't help but see the similarity of the story to his situation with Katara, or at least what he wanted to be his situation with Katara.

"Yeah," she replied looking up at him. She glanced away and then back at the prince. "I have a crazy idea."

"What?"

"I was thinking, the curse says we will be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love, and here it says love is brightest in the dark and has a picture of them kissing," she looked away and stepped backwards. "Well, what if we . . . never mind." She was just too scarred. She wanted to kiss him, but fear stopped her from saying what she was thinking. She blushed fiercely.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth Zuko knew exactly where she was going. This was his opportunity and you didn't have to tell him twice. She had turned to walk away and he took two steps toward her, reached out, let the flame go out, grabbed both of her arms right below the shoulder, turned her around, and pulled her against him. His hands slipped from her arms and shot around her waist pulling her closer. As he leaned down his left hand slid up her back to her shoulder blades and pushed her toward him. He wasn't wasting time. He was going to kiss her this time, and kiss her good. He leaned forward and his lips met her already open ones. He hadn't expected her to be so receptive. He kissed her strongly and passionately and she kissed back. Her arms slid over his shoulders and around his neck. He took this as a sign that she wanted more. He leaned further into her causing her to have to lean backwards. If he let go she would have fallen to the floor. He deepened the kiss and she reached up for his ponytail and began to twirl his jet black hair around her fingertips. He was shocked that she seemed to be enjoying this, so he slipped his tongue into her mouth, again she didn't pull away.

They kissed passionately for what seemed like precious seconds, but both knew it was much, much longer. They finally needed to come up for air and Zuko released Katara's lips and caught his breath as he watched Katara panting in his arms trying to do the same. The cave around them had lit up, but they didn't seem to care. He smirked at her, but she returned his arrogance with a sweet smile as she put her hand on the side of his face to cup his cheek. Her tenderness took him off guard and he closed his eyes as she caressed his face; her fingers slid up to his scar, and she gently ran her fingers over it as she had all those weeks ago. He was still holding her tightly against him, refusing to lose her again. She was like an angel, and she looked just like one in her white flowing dress.

He leaned forward and captured her lips again, kissing her just as passionately as before. He couldn't get enough of her, and she couldn't get enough of him. Her fingers wound through his hair again, and she felt his fingers slide through her hair to cradle the back of her head forcing her mouth even tighter against his. She wanted him to kiss her forever and never let go. She pulled herself closer to his muscular body as their tongues darted between their mouths. Her hands were still in his hair, and his right hand was in hers. His left hand slid down her waist to her hip feeling the curve of her body. It slid up and down from her hip to her waist. He debated over whether or not to grab her butt, and decided against it because this was only their second kiss and he didn't want to send the wrong message. Finally, they broke apart to catch their breath. She leaned back in his arms and looked up at his golden eyes. She started to step away.

"Oh, no you don't. We aren't done." He picked her up in the air and leaned her against his body wrapping his arms around her hips to hold her up. Her elbows landed on his shoulders and she wrapped her arms around his neck again falling into his kiss. She didn't want this moment to end; it was like in all the love stories her Gran- Gran had read her when she was a little girl. It had been her first kiss, and the way Zuko kissed her so passionately made her feel beautiful and wanted in a way she had never felt before. She began to deepen the kiss; she loved the way he was holding her up over him. _He is so strong to be able to hold me up and kiss me so long and deeply._ He finally set her down, but didn't let go.

"Katara, be my angel." His voice was deep and raspy, and it made her shiver.

She nodded. "Yes Price Zuko." His lips met hers once again, this time his hands ran up and down her sides feeling the curve of her body. Her hands slid over his armor in his chest then on to his arms. She held onto his arms tightly, her hands not able to encircle his large biceps. _His arms are so muscular._

Zuko smirked inwardly,_ feeling up my biceps? I can play this game._ His hand slid from her stomach and hips that he had been caressing to her butt. He grabbed it with both hands and pulled her closer. She gasped at his boldness, but continued kissing him. After another few minutes their lips parted but their foreheads were still leaning against each other.

"Katara, come away with me. We can leave all this behind and find a little village in the earth kingdom to live in. I can teach swordsmanship and do farm work. I will take care of you and provide for you."

"What? Zuko slow down, just a few minutes ago you were chasing my friend, and-"

"I don't care about that anymore Katara. I put every part of myself into something when I want it. I refuse to be defeated because I have had to work for everything in my life. I realized I don't want to capture the Avatar anymore. My Uncle was right, it still wouldn't fix things with my father, and I couldn't have you. Now you are what I want, and I will do whatever I must to have you. I will not give up."

"But Zuko, we can't just pretend the war doesn't exist." She tried not to let his profession of his feelings for her melt her heart. She needed to be rational. "We can be together but we can't run away from our destinies. I am destined to help Aang defeat the Fire Lord, your father. How is this going to work?"

"I've seen the evils that my country has done and I don't want any part of them anymore. I can help you overthrow my father, and allow my Uncle to take his rightful place on the throne. I mean it Katara I want this."

**Let me know what you think bout the romance scene! I hope I didn't ruin it or get too OOC. Please give me feedback. This story aint over! I was just going to do 5 chaps but I think it needs more if I have good reviews from this chap. **

**So tell me if you liked the fluff or if it sucked and tell me if you want this story to keep going.**


	6. Pitfalls

**I am soooooooooooo sorry it took me so long to update. I promise it will never be that long again. I try not to do that when I write because I know yall want updates fast. True I have been really busy bit there is no excuse. Here is some Zutara fluff for yall as a peace offering lol, please forgive me!**

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Katara nodded.

She believed him, sure it was stupid, but the look in his eyes when he told her he wanted to help them made her believe him. Besides, she'd already spent the last twenty minutes, probably more, making out with him, so if she was going to not trust him, she should have already got on with it. She desperately hoped he had been telling the truth when he said those romantic things about running away together. And she wanted to; she wanted to oh so badly. But she couldn't; like Oma and Shu, they were destined to be an example of love to the world, to show that there could be peace between fire and water. They had to help Aang end this war.

She knew it must be hard for him. Sure his dad was a total jerk and horrible father, but still Zuko was having to betray his family, if they could be called that, and his county. It showed the power of his feelings for her and his desire to do the right thing. She resolved to stay by his side for all of it. She would be there to comfort him and help him, though judging by his personality he would never admit to needing help or comfort, so she would have to be subtle. And she wouldn't leave him or give up on him like so many people in his life had done. She would be there for him as long as he wanted her.

"Let's find my uncle and your friends." Zuko took her hand and lead her through the tunnels.

"My brother is going to try to kill you ya know?" Katara said jokingly.

Zuko laughed, "I would be insulted if you thought I would actually lose to him in a fight. Do you remember when I fought your brother at the south pole?"

"I don't think that was even able to be considered a fight," Katara giggled. "But he has had warrior training since then."

"Somehow I still think I will be ok," Zuko smirked.

"You are so arrogant."

"I broke Aang out of Zhao's base camp without bending."

"Well, I froze you to a wall at the North Pole."

"Yeah, and I got out of it and captured you peasant."

"Why do you have to call me that? What happened to the romantic Zuko from earlier? I want him back."

"You mean you want to feel up my arms again?" Zuko smirked.

"Ugh! I was not! You were the one doing all the feeling!"

"If I remember right," Zuko walked toward her, "you were doing this during that last kiss." He put her hands on his biceps and started moving them up and down. She blushed fiercely.

"I work out every single day, thank you for noticing."

"Well you were doing some serious starring when you first saw me." She said smugly.

"Yeah, I know. You are beautiful in this dress, even more than usual." He took her chin in his hand and looked deeply into her eyes. He closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips lightly meet hers. She cupped his cheek and kissed back. Some of her fingers were lying across the edge of his scar. They broke apart and he lifted her above him again, wrapping his arms around her right below her hips to keep her up and close to him. She slid her fingers over the smooth scarred skin and over his burned ear. Gently and slowly she slid her fingers over it, sorrow and compassion filled her eyes. She slowly leaned her head down closer to his and ever so gently kissed his scar right below his eye. His eyes were closed and he let out a sigh as her soft lips touched his singed skin. She slowly moved to kiss the scarred part of his forehead where there was no eyebrow due to the incident. Then she kissed the top of his ear before returning to his lips where she placed a gentle kiss. Zuko had never experienced anything so gentle and loving in his life. It was that moment when she had him, completely, all of him. He would have fought entire armies for her, climbed the tallest mountains, or walked across the Earth kingdom's biggest deserts just to have her as his own. He would give her the sun, moon, and stars, and done _anything_ she asked of him in a heartbeat. How could this have happened? Good things just didn't happen to him. He was holding this beautiful Waterbender in his arms, his angel, and he almost couldn't believe it. He pulled her into a passionate kiss, and again her fingers wound into his hair, twirling little sections of it around them.

They continued to follow the tunnel until they came to a bend and saw daylight ahead. Katara began to run toward it, but Zuko reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her. He spun her around and her flowing white dress twirled around them.

"What?"

"I had my men go on ahead and wait at the other side of the cave to capture the Avatar. Let me go first."

She nodded. He lead the way out of the cave and Katara followed several paces behind. And sure enough as he exited the cave several of his men walked out from behind their cover and addressed him.

"Prince Zuko. The Avatat has not yet exited the cave."

"Call off the ambush Lieutenant. We aren't going to be attempting to capture the Avatar any more-"

"Prince Zuko! Look out behind you! The Waterbender!" one of the men shouted. He raced toward Katara to _protect_ Zuko.

Zuko grabbed his shoulder as he ran by and stopped him. "Soldier, stand down. They are no longer our enemy." The man stopped and looked at Zuko quizzically.

"We have to go in and find the Avatar and my Uncle."

"Prince Zuko . . ."

Zuko turned to see Iroh walking toward him from a lower level of the cliff they were on.

"Uncle, how did you get out here?"

"I trusted in love," the old man smiled. "It seems you did too, I was hoping you would find the water bender. I knew it was the only way you would get out."

Zuko's face turned red and so did Katara's. Zuko quickly changed the subject. "But I don't understand, you were alone. . ."

"Do you think I have no memory of my late wife? She died when you were a boy so you don't remember her, but I still do, and I still love her very much. I simply thought of my love for her and I went straight through the cave. I was here waiting before the men arrived. What took you so long? Did it take you a long time to find her or did it take a long time after you found her?"

Iroh chuckled and Zuko turned red. "We are going in to find the Avatar. Uncle, wait here with the men. Do not attack if they come out. Tell them that Katara is with me, and we are no longer enemies. I hope he will believe you," Zuko said.

"I trust that after the incident at the North Pole he will have a small amount of trust for us."

With that Zuko took Katara's hand and walked back into the cave.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Elsewhere, lost in the cave Sokka lead the group through tunnel after tunnel.

"Don't let the cave in get you down Sokka, don't let the falling rocks turn your smile. . . into a frown!" The singing was killing him.

"Sokka, if you would just relax and trust in love it might work," Yue pleaded.

"I don't want it to work! I want to find my sister! Katara is lost and alone in the dark Yue! She is all by herself probably huddled up in some corner crying her eyes out. She is going to die if I don't find her, so I don't want to find a way out, I want to find Katara."

"Sokka, that doesn't sound like Katara at all. She is a smart, brave girl, she's figured something out you'll see. She is so full of love! She's probably out there waiting on us."

"She didn't have a torch!"

"She could probably feel her way out. She is brave Sokka. Have some faith in her!"

"It's my job to protect her."

All this time Aang couldn't get a word in edgewise, finally he'd had enough.

"Alright! We need to stop arguing, Sokka. Yue is right. If we trust in love and get out of here maybe she will already be there. I love Katara as much as anyone, but she may be waiting on us outside, so let's find the way out, see if she's there and then come back and look for her."

Yue seized the moment when Sokka was distracted and jumped on him and kissed him. "I'm gonna make you feel love if it's the last thing I do," she said after pulling away. She instantly went back to kissing him, and his arms wound around her. She could feel him relax. She began to caress his shoulders and back, not caring that everyone was staring at them.

"Now," she said pulling away, "focus on that and just maybe we will find a way through this. He pulled her into another kiss and heard the sound of everyone else in awe. Pulling away he looked to see what the commotion was and right before he popped out a smart remark about how awesome he and Yue were at kissing he saw the blue lights in the top of the cave making a trail to the left.

"It worked," said one of the nomads. They began to follow the trail.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The fire prince and Waterbender made their way through the cave by light of Zuko's Firebending. They didn't follow the trail of lights but instead went elsewhere to look for the gaang. They began talking about Iroh and the North Pole and weren't paying attention to their footing. And something happened very suddenly.

"Whoaaaaaaaaaah!" Katara shrieked as she slipped and fell into a deep hole in the cave. She felt her arm snap and she stopped suddenly opening her eyes to see what had happened. She looked up to see Zuko laying on his stomach over the ledge holding onto her hand. She was dangling over a pit and couldn't see the bottom. She breathed heavily trying to calm her panic. She saw Zuko effortlessly pulling her up with one arm, and she took a second to admire strength. Then, his eyes got really big as if he was surprised. The rock below him began to give way and she was falling again, but this time he was falling, too.

Zuko wrapped and arm around Katara's waist spinning her in to him. He reached out and his hand slid over the side of the pit feeling for something to grab to stop their descent. Suddenly he found it a small ledge hung out about six inches. He grabbed it and they jerked to a sudden stop, his shoulder screaming in pain from baring the force of their stop.

Katara began to breathe heavily. She knew she had to calm down or they wouldn't make it out alive, but she really wanted to panic right now.

"Katara," Zuko soothed, "you're ok relax. We will get out of here."

"How? I can't climb this wall," He held her tightly in his left arm as he clung to the cliff with his right. "And you can't hold on forever."

"I need you to hold on to me," she reached around his neck and did as he said. "Do you have a good grip?"

"Yes," she said burying her face in his chest.

"Ok I'm going to let go of you so I can climb up." She nodded and Zuko let go of her and grabbed the wall, and began to climb up.

_How is he scaling the wall and supporting both our weights?_ She was totally impressed with the prince. She placed a kiss on his jaw and breathed "thank you Zuko."

Halfway up, they heard footsteps.

"Sokka!" Katara yelled, hoping it was her brother.

"Katara!" She heard his muffled response.

"Be careful there is a hole!"

She saw Sokka, Aang, and Yue run up and lean over the edge.

"Katara!" Aang yelled in shock at seeing the Waterbender and Fire Prince in the hole.

All Sokka could think about though, was how close Zuko and his sister were. "Let go of my sister!"

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Zuko had stopped climbing to look up in shock. _What an idiot._ He had never been fond of the water tribe warrior. He was always doing something incredibly dumb.

"Fine, get her up here and then get off of her!"

"Sokka shut up!" Katara yelled.

Yue tried to hide her excitement from how close they were, and she was glad that they were ok. One or both of them must have fallen down there.

Zuko finished climbing to the top with Katara still hanging on to him as they reached the top Sokka and Aang quickly pulled her up away from Zuko. He climbed up behind them.

"What is he doing here?" Sokka demanded. "Did he push you in there?" He pushed his sister behind him with Yue to stand between them and a very annoyed looking Zuko.

"No Sokka! That does not even make any sense! If he pushed me in there why would he help me get out!"

"I want to help you," Zuko said trying to control his anger. "I'm not chasing the Avatar anymore."

"I don't trust you" Sokka said pointing his boomerang at Zuko. "What have you done to my sister? For the past few weeks she has been defending you."

.

"I haven't done anything to her!" _Except make out with her and practically profess my love for her._ "Katara trusts me."

"He did help us at the North Pole Sokka," Yue stated.

"Girl opinions don't count," Sokka said looking at Katara and Yue. Katara put her hands on her hips.

"Well then I guess girl cooking won't count for you either, good luck making something edible for yourself for dinner," Katara said.

Before Sokka could respond Zuko spoke. He looked at Aang and said, " I'm done chasing you. I realized my father is wrong. I can help you over throw him. And I can teach you to Firebend. You once said we could be friends."

Aang looked to be deep in thought. "This is sudden, what made you change your mind?"

"My uncle has been talking to me about it for some time now, and . . ." he blushed a little, "Katara has helped me realize what is right." That was true. He decided not to mention how crazy about her he was though. It might not set well with the Avatar, who clearly had a thing for the Waterbender or the girl's brother.

Yue noticed his blush, and she knew what that meant. She could hardly contain her excitement.

"Alright," Aang began, "Katara does seem to trust you, so we will give you a chance, and you did help us at the North Pole," he smiled, not sure if he trusted the fire prince or not.

"Thank you." Zuko bowed in traditional fire nation style with one fist closed against the other palm.

"I don't like this," Sokka said to Yue. "Oh, Sokka you'll get used to it. I bet the two of you will be great friends. It will be good for another older boy to be in the group."

They began following the light again to exit the tunnel. Iroh was waiting for them as they exited. "Prince Zuko, I'm glad the see you found the others."

"Uncle, I am going to travel with the Avatar and help him. You can return home now to the Fire Nation. Thank you for training me for these years and traveling with me in my exile."

Iroh smiled and put his hand on the prince's shoulder. "Prince Zuko, you are like a son to me. There is no need for you thanks; I would not have allowed you to go alone. And I do not wish to return to the Fire Nation. I wish to travel with you and your new friends." Iroh smiled at the group who returned his smile.

"You know, things are starting to look up," Aang said.

. . . . . . . . .

**Sorry this one was so short, I hope you liked it anyways. I have a few ideas as the where this story should go. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**1. Discuss different times as they all travel together to prepare for the fire lord final battle. With Yukka and Zutara, obviously, but leave out most of the episode plots from the series.**

**2. Jump straigt to after the war and turn this into a post war fic. With obvious Zutara and Yukka. **

**3. Both 1. And 2.**

**4. Go through many of the episodes adding in Zuko and Yue in their new positions.**

**5. Wrap things up in the next chap.**

**Your input is highly valued! Please tell me what you want!**


	7. Splitting Up

**I have had a lot of requests for option 4 and 3 so what I am going to do is go through the series, but not painstakingly slowly. I will add in Zuko and Yue and twist some things up so it's not so monotonous. Then I will convert it into a post war fic Zutara style. I am going to try to keep this light and fluffy. Angsty stuff is good, but sometimes I just want some fluff and cute stuff. There are so many angsty Zutaras out there. Now having said that there may be some angst, but not crazy much. This will be a feel good fic. No super sad parts. Having said that . . . . . . on with the show.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.**

**One last thing: This will not be identical to the plot in the episodes, and Zuko is going to be a little ridiculously jealous at times. I don't know but I see him as the jealous lover type. You will see what I mean.**

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The gaang continued on towards Omashu with Aang leading the way and Sokka and Yue in the back. Sokka was staring holes in the back of Zuko's head, something was going on between the prince and his sister and he was going to find out what. Sokka glanced over at Katara for a split second; she was still wearing _that dress_, and Zuko kept looking at her. He wasn't just glancing either and it was all Sokka could do to hold himself back from taking out the prince with his boomerang right here and now for checking out his sister.

Yue looked at Sokka and saw how he was starting down the back of Zuko's head. She giggled, "Sokka, you need to calm down."

"How can I?" he whisper screamed.

"He's not a bad guy Sokka; he may have been, but he changed and he's helping us."

Yue couldn't wait until she got a chance to talk with Katara in private to see what was going on.

Aang made his way to the top of a hill and gasped. "Oh, no. . ."

Zuko rushed to catch up with the Avatar. His eyes went wide when he saw what the Avatar had seen. The Fire Nation had taken over Omashu.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sokka asked Zuko and Iroh.

"I'm kind of banished, my father doesn't send me a messenger hawk every time he captures a new town," Zuko shot back sarcastically.

"How could this have happened?" Aang asked ignoring the older boys.

"I'm not sure Aang, but we will find out," Katara said placing her hand on Aang's shoulder. Zuko caught sight of this and jealousy shot through him. He was the one she was supposed to comfort, not the Avatar. He scowled and looked away back at the city.

"Katara, we have to find Boomi."

"You're right, don't worry Aang. We will get him back."

The group descended the hill toward the city and Sokka found a sewer they could sneak in through. He jumped down in it. "Come on! The water's fine!"

"It's sewer water!" Yue cringed as Aang, Zuko, Iroh, and Katara each climbed in.

"It's fine!" Aang said.

"Okay," Yue said reluctantly as she climbed down, "but Katara and I are washing the clothes later."

"Awesome," Sokka said, "that means I don't have to."

Yue rolled her eyes as they continued on.

They got to the end of the pipe and climbed out a hole into an alley. Zuko climbed up first and reached down and pulled Katara up into his arms. Then he quickly released her realizing the others might suspect something if he continued to hold her. He reached down to offer an a angry looking Sokka a hand, but he refused it.

"I can climb out myself," Sokka assured him, and he did and then pulled Yue up. Aang airbended out and Sokka and Zuko each offered Iroh a hand and pulled him out together.

Zuko pulled up his hood before they entered the street. They walked toward the palace at the top of the mountain that Omashu was built on, and on the way up they passed a large kiosk. It had several "wanted" posters. Amongst them were Aang, Jong-Jong, the Blue Spirit, and . . .

"Is that Zuko?" Sokka asked.

"Uncle, I don't understand; it has only been a few hours since we betrayed the fire nation. These posters look worn by the weather. They've been here for some time.

"Perhaps my brother found out about the north pole sooner than we hoped nephew," Iroh said as he looked at his own poster and that of his nephew.

"Quick a guard is coming!" Katara said. She quickly sprinted into an alley followed by the others.

"This is bad, bad, bad," Aang said. He already had fake hair on and a cloak to cover his airbender clothes.

Katara winced as she saw Zuko pull out a knife and cut off his pony tail. She looked at him with sad eyes. She had been rather fond of it. He looked back at her with compassion. She was scared. He wanted to hold her. Iroh caught a glimpse of the two needing some alone time.

He spoke up. "Avatar Aang, It may be beneficial to split up. We are a large group and staying together may be suspicious."

"Yeah we could practically start a club and call it the 'Wanted by the Fire Nation' club," Sokka piped in.

"So," Iroh continued, "Some of us could search for King Boomi and the others could try to learn what happened to the city. I know King Boomi personally, just as you do. Perhaps I could accompany you to find him?"

Aang nodded, "And Katara can come with us and Yue, Sokka, and Zuko can go find out what happened."

"Aang, I think Sokka should go with you, he and Zuko haven't been getting along well."

"Uh-uh no way am I letting you and Yue go with that creep!"

"He's not a creep Sokka!" Katara yelled before Zuko had the chance to lash back. "He hasn't hurt either of us before and he isn't going to! Now grow up and go with Aang."

Sokka crossed his arms and said, "Alright, but you two stay together and if he tries anything freeze him. You got your water pouch?"

"Sokka!" Katara yelled. Iroh took the knife from Zuko and cut his top knot off and told Aang they would have to find some earth kingdom clothes soon. He left his armor in a stack next to Zuko's.

Each group headed out around the corner in their appropriate direction. As soon as they were out of sight, Yue almost exploded with excitement. She squealed and jumped up and down.

"Tell me what happened!"

Zuko gave Katara a confused look. "She knows," Katara said, "she convinced me that I liked you when I was in denial."

"Oh," Zuko said, "I suppose I should thank you Princess Yue."

"No need! Tell me what happened!" They both blushed, and Yue knew they had done more than talk and fall down a hole. She also realized Katara wouldn't want to talk about it with Zuko there, but would probably fill her in on everything when they set up camp at night.

"Never mind your faces tell it all. You two are so perfect for each other!"

Zuko reached for Katara's hand and held it as he pulled her closer to his side, winding his fingers through hers while they walked.

. . . . . . . . . . .

**This is short! I will update soon. I promise! One funny thing before I go, so I'm at school and someone is banging stuff on the wall yelling obscenities in the next room over. Kinda scary. Anyways, no idea why I shared that. Will update soon this weekend or early next week. Feedback please! I want to know if I am on track with how yall want this.**


	8. Hunting and Blending In

**So I have cooked up a juicy plot for "Zuko Alone" and I can't wait to get to that episode, so I am going to get moving. And I will be changing things up a great deal from the cartoon, feel warned. But hang on and I will serve up some juicy Zutara romance, just trust me. And thank ya'll for reading you're the best!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or any of the awesome characters**

. . . . . . . . . . .

"We need to get new clothes," Yue said. "We stick out too much."

"Good, you're right, then we can get to figuring out who is in charge here."

"But I like this dress," Zuko said, looking at Katara. She blushed.

"Told you he would," Yue smiled. Zuko smirked. "You wore this for me?"

"Well not exactly, my other clothes got set on fire."

"I wanted her to have something pretty for the next time you saw her, I guess it worked out. She was in denial the whole time about it," Yue said. Zuko smirked at Katara.

They walked into a clothing store and the tailor asked how she could help. Katara told her that they all needed new outfits. She took them to the appropriate sections of the store and they began to look through the options of earth kingdom clothes. Zuko found his and tried it on within minutes. It was simple dark green and brown earth kingdom clothes. (Clothes he wore in "Zuko Alone") Katara and Yue took quite a while longer to choose their clothes and Zuko was quickly growing impatient.

Katara began trying on clothes. One of the dresses was light olive green and tied with a belt across the front. It was similar to her water tribe clothes, but the fabric was lighter. It split up the sides just like her water tribe dress. This dress though was long sleeved and came down lower. She grabbed dark olive green leggings to wear with it and a white undershirt that peeked out the top. She left her hair unbraided while wearing it, but put in her hair loopies and a tiny bun on the back of her head.

The second outfit she tried on was a medium olive green with black trim and a black swirly print on it. The other had tight sleeves, but this one had long baggy sleeves. There was a large black fabric that was tied around her waist that stretched from right below her breasts to right below her belly button. It hung to just below her knees and had splits up the sides. She wore the same olive green tights, and the shoes she wore with her original water tribe clothes.

Yue also tired on a kimono style dress, but unlike Katara's hers was fuller and didn't split up the sides. It was light green, and the wrap that went around her waist was dark green. It had dark green hems. She found another dress that was also light green and had a poofy skirt. There was a brown belt and the light green part was strapless, but brown sleeves came up out of the sides of it to cover her shoulders slightly and her arms.

"How much longer?" Zuko complained from outside the dressing room where the girls had been trying on clothes.

"Patience! We are almost done!" They changed back into their original clothes and saw Zuko waiting outside the dressing room.

"I think I may want to look around a little longer. You two go on outside and wait for me; I won't be long," Yue said with a mischievous grin on her face. Katara and Zuko went outside and around the corner of the building . As soon as they were out of the main stream of traffic Zuko pulled Katara in to him and kissed her as deeply as in the cave. He pinned her to the wall and ran his hands over her hips and stomach as she grabbed his biceps.

"Get a room!" some old man yelled as he passed by. They ignored him. Finally, they were alone again at last, if only for a few minutes.

Katara heard Yue yelling her name and pushed Zuko off of her. He immediately let her go and the two went back into the shop.

They bought their new clothes then all changed into them. Katara wore the plain olive green one and Yue wore the light green dress with the poofy skirt. Zuko had apparently bought a hat with his because he was wearing it also.

They left and went further up towards the political center of the city. Zuko told Yue and Katara that usually when the Fire Nation occupies Earth Kingdom territory they would have a governor over the area. He recommended that be where they start. They snuck around in the upper level of the city right below the palace until they heard some passersby mention the governor. Zuko motioned for the girls to stay hidden in the alley as he followed the man. After a little more stealthy shadow sneaking, Zuko had listened to enough of the man's conversation to know where the house was and who the governor was. He was shocked to hear that Mai, his sister's childhood friend, was the daughter of the governor. He returned to the girls, and told them what he had learned. Their next step was to figure out how this had happened. Omashu was a very strong Earth Kingdom city, it couldn't easily be taken over by the Fire Nation.

As if on cue, they saw the governors family walking one tier below them, and suddenly rocks from above came rushing toward them. Katara saw a fountain and acted on instinct. She sent water flying towards the rocks to wash them out of the way and save the Fire Nation governor, but before her water reached the rocks, she noticed them blow away as if by Airbending.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed. From the other side she could see Aang, Sokka, and Iroh newly adorned in Earth Kingdom clothes. The two groups quickly rejoined, staying ready for an attack.

"Did you find Boomi?" Katara asked. "Well yes and no," Aang replied. Iroh cut in saying, "We found him, but he did not want to be rescued. He has a plan and we must respect it."

"The resistance," Mai said. She began leaping up to the next level to fight off the attackers, knives ready, but instead upon reaching the top she saw _Zuko?_

She looked at the scene. "Zuko, what are you doing?"

"Saving your family, apparently, if it weren't for my friend you all would be dead now."

Mai sighed and frowned. "This is boring. Where is the resistance?"

". . . Resistance?" Aang asked.

Mai sighed and began to walk on. "The ones who tried to flatten my family."

"We don't know. Come back here and answer some questions!" Zuko snapped. When she ignored him he started to go after her, but Iroh stopped him. "Zuko, we got enough information from King Boomi. We know what happened and we need to move on. The Fire Nation attacked. Boomi decided to do nothing but wait and listen. He has it under control here. We must get going."

"Clearly he doesn't have it all under control," Zuko snapped. "What kind of leader does nothing and tells his people to do nothing while their city is attacked?"

"It doesn't make sense to me either," Aang cut in, "but he said in Earth bending you must wait and listen, so that is what he is doing. He also said my Earthbending teacher will have mastered this."

"Now if everyone feels good about themselves can we get out of here before that Fire Nation girl comes back with the whole Fire Nation army to arrest four wanted people," Sokka said.

"Sokka only three of us are wanted."

"I counted Zuko twice, you know once for Zuko and once for the Blue Spirit; he's like double wanted."

"I don't think she is going to tell anyone. Mai doesn't care, but just in case we should still leave." And with that they decided to move on and continue looking for Aang an Earthbending master elsewhere. They returned to Appa who would finally get the chance to fly after being unable to due to all the Fire nation presence.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

They flew on until they decided it was late enough so they needed to make camp. They got off of Appa and began to get out their sleeping bags. Iroh made a fire as Zuko helped unload. Katara laid out her sleeping bag and Aang quickly rushed to put his on one side of hers. Zuko's brow twitched with frustration and he placed his on the other side of the Waterbender. Sokka, seeing Zuko do this, instantly grabbed his and Yue's sleeping bags and dropped them between Zuko and Katara's with Yue on Katara's side and Sokka on Zuko's side so he could _protect the girls from that crazy Firebender._ Zuko rolled his eyes and laid down to go to sleep.

The next morning Zuko woke at dawn to meditate, and Sokka began to wake up. He painfully pulled himself out of his sleeping bag, groaning the whole time. This shook Zuko's concentration, and he glared at the water tribe boy.

"What? I'm not a morning person."

"Then why are you up?"

"Hunting. Food doesn't catch itself you know. Oh, wait you don't know because you had it served to you your whole life."

This was enough to make Zuko stand up from his meditation. His hands lit on fire with his boiling anger. "I'll show you hunting."

"Bring it on hot pants!"

"Oh, Sokka," Yue shook her head at Sokka's horrible comeback. Apparently their argument had woken several of the others.

"Why don't you just work together?" Katara questioned sleepily. The two older boys ignored her question and Zuko grabbed his swords. "Let's do this."

The two went off into the woods with their weapons hoping to find anything edible and made of meat.

Sokka knew what he was doing and headed out away from Zuko confidently. Zuko was just as confident though he had never hunted before, so he decided to rely on what he was good at: stealth, agility and being a master of broad swords. He decided to climb into a tree in a secluded area and silently await his prey. An hour later a sheep dear walked below him, grazing and not having noticed the silent ninja in the tree above him. Zuko moved without making a sound and silently and quickly leapt from the tree killing his prey. He quickly lifted the carcass and hauled it back to camp proudly awaiting his moment to show up Sokka. When Zuko got back to camp everyone was back asleep except for Katara who was doing chores. It wasn't surprising that everyone was still asleep because it was only an hour or so past sunrise. Zuko laid down his catch and looked up to notice Katara giving him a flirty look and motioning with her pointer finger for him to come closer.

He smirked and began to do as she requested. She put a horrified playful look on her face and covered her mouth with her hand as if to say "oh no Prince Zuko is trying to capture me!" She turned and ran into the woods opposite the direction Zuko and Sokka had left in to go hunting. Zuko responded quickly and chased after her, not going at full speed to keep up the game and keep the chase going. Finally she neared the top of a hill in the woods and Zuko had had enough chasing; he sped up to catch her. He wrapped his arms around her waist while turning her and pulling her into him. He let them fall as they collided down the hill rolling in each other's arms. She started giggling as they rolled faster down the hill before coming to rest by a small stream with Katara lying on top of Zuko, still giggling. He loved how fun loving she was. She wasn't dead and depressed like Mai, or overly ridiculous like Ty Lee.

"Got you" he smirked.

She shook her head. "I've got the high ground; it looks like I've got you your highness!" she mocked.

"We'll see about that peasant!" he said as he effortlessly flipped them over to where she was on bottom.

With this sudden change in position the whole mood changed. Zuko was holding his weight on his forearms hovering over her so as not to put his weight on her small frame. Each of his knees was just to the outside of hers as he hovered closely over her. Her eyes went wide as she felt their closeness and suddenly he became completely aware of how close they were. He wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away as he lowered his head and met her lips with his own. She kissed him back eagerly and warmly. Her fingers slid across his short hair, and her lips slid away from his mouth to his ear as he kissed her neck. She whispered "I miss the ponytail" before gently kissing his ear and moaning with his gentle caresses. His lips slid down from her stomach to her chest as he kissed it right above the low collar of her shirt. Her hands slid to his shoulders and massaged them as he kissed her skin. Soon his lips returned to cover her own and their passionate kiss deepened again.

Suddenly, Zuko felt a hand on his shoulder trying to pull him off Katara. He stopped kissing her and turned as he drew his swords keeping himself between the unknown person and the defenseless disheveled girl on the ground behind him.

"Oh no," was Zuko's only response as he put away his swords. Sokka had somehow stumbled on them making out and had tried to pull Zuko off of his sister. Sokka on the other hand didn't put away his weapon. He looked ready to kill Zuko. "I can explain," Zuko started and then realized how stupid it sounded. What was there to explain?

"Get away from her!" Sokka yelled loud enough to alert the entire Fire Nation of their location.

"I wasn't going to take it any further," Zuko assured the angry brother as he stepped away from the now seated and red faced Katara. She was embarrassed and angry that her brother had caught her like that.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Sokka yelled.

"Sokka knock it off!" Katara said. "I like him Sokka, he didn't force anything on me. I'm old enough to like boys, Sokka."

"Katara he is Fire Nation."

"He's not like them! He is helping us!"

"He chased us all winter and tried to capture Aang! How can you do this to Aang Katara? He likes you. How can you rip his heart out over some useless Fire bender?"

Zuko was getting to a point where he couldn't take it anymore and was about to step in if it wasn't resolved soon.

"I don't have the same feelings for Aang. He is like a little brother, and Zuko gave up everything to help us. How can you say such horrible things about him?"

Sokka stormed off.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said helping Katara to her feet after Sokka left.

"For what?" she asked.

"Causing you problems with your brother."

"He will get over it. He's just too overprotective. He doesn't understand that I'm not a little girl anymore."

"If it makes you happy I won't start this again."

"No, Zuko, that's not what I want." She caressed his face. He looked dejected hurt and angry all at the same time. He was such a mystery to her and she was determined to get even closer to his and learn everything there was to know about the Prince of the Fire Nation. She smiled up at him, "I told you I would be your angel didn't I?" He pulled her into his arms.

She had a hunch the reason he looked hurt for a split second was his desire to fit in. The majority of the world hated his guts and saw him as a failure or a villain both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom alike as well as the Tribes. If she could just show him that he wasn't as failure, that he had what it took to be a good leader, then maybe she could help him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Back at camp Sokka picked up random things and threw them to display his anger.

"Sokka!" Yue ran towards him and grabbed his arm. "What's the matter?"

"I just saw that fire nation scum _kissing_ _all over_ my sister."

"Oh," _this is bad_. "Sokka, Katara is a big girl."

"I don't trust him. . . Did you know about this?"

"Um, well."

"So is this what you and Katara were talking about all those weeks ago when you wouldn't tell me and Aang?"

She nodded.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"Because we knew this would happen. Sokka they really like each other, and I think it's a good thing. I bet it helped Zuko change sides."

"Well what if they get in a fight and he changes back?"

"I don't think that will happen. He really is a good guy. Katara has told me all about him. You should get to know him you two would get along better than you think."

Sokka looked around to try to find something to change the subject. "Did Zuko catch that deer sheep? Aw, man. What is with this guy is he just here because the universe hates me?"

"Oh, Sokka," Yue kissed him lightly on the lips. "What did you catch?" She asked gently touching the side of his face.

He held up two opossum squirrels hanging from a rope on the side of belt. "Well you got two; he only caught one." Sokka smiled and pulled her in to a kiss. "You always know how to brighten my day my beautiful water princess."

**Ok folks, that's it for this chap. Next time TOPH! I will be skipping the swamp episode because I feel like it and it's a free country lol. So if yall wanted to hear something from that one I am sorry, use your imagination. I am really excited about the chapter after the Toph one when I write "Zuko Alone" so yeah. I'm skipping stuff. I hope there is enough Aang and Iroh in the story. If not let me know. The main focus of my story is obviously Zutara but I don't want to neglect. Let me know what you thought about the fluff.**

**I will try to update ASAP**

**-engineergirl86**


	9. Toph Skills

Just realized a typo in Chap 8, it should have been "slid down from her neck to her chest" rather than "slid down from her stomach to her chest" yeah sorry about that.

Sorry it took me so long to update.

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko was furious. At first he had been sorry for causing problems, but the more he thought about it the angrier he got at Sokka. He had given up his chance of returning to his father's side and reclaiming his position to help this group, and the girls were the only ones who seemed to care. Sokka and Aang avoided him and clearly did not appreciate him. After all Zuko had given up a lot and he was the primary provider of food for the group. He was a better hunter than Sokka, and he knew it got under Sokka's skin. He smirked when he thought about all the meat he had provided for their lunch and dinner that day.

He didn't care if they didn't like him. He was just going to keep fighting and being Zuko, opposition was a constant in his life and he was sure he was doing the right thing, and Katara liked him, and that was what mattered to him.

They had traveled by foot all day because flying was too dangerous. It was almost dark and they were nearing the next town that they had hoped to reach in order to find an earthbending master for the avatar.

"I think this is as good a place as any to stop," Uncle Iroh said. Aang yawned. "I think so, too. I'm so tired." Appa flopped down, and Aang and the others either curled up next to the fuzzy feet of the bison or grabbed their sleeping bags. Katara flattened out her sleeping bag and Aang leapt over next to her to lay out his. Iroh chuckled as he spread his out a little ways away. Sokka quickly spread his out next to Katara, running in front of Zuko to do so and then shooting him an overconfident smirk. That was the last straw for Zuko. He scowled and walked to Sokka, bent down picked up his sleeping bag and threw it to the other side of the camp. Katara gasped, unsure how her brother would respond. Zuko laid his sleeping bag down by Katara as he gave Sokka the 'do something about it' look. Sokka growled and stormed off as Katara let out a deep sigh of relief. If Sokka was stupid enough to fight Zuko there would be some serious injuries she's have to heal for her brother. Zuko had already embarrassed him at the South Pole when they first met. She looked to make sure Aang was already asleep. Thankfully the young avatar was exhausted and had knocked out almost instantly after lying down. Katara rolled on her side to look at the angry fire bender lying next to her. He was on his back scowling up at the sky with his arms crossed over his chest. She giggled and pulled one of his arms toward her so she could wind her fingers through his.

"You won, you can stop pouting."

"I'm not pouting!"

"Well what do you call this?"

"Your brother is infuriating."

"He'll warm up to you, just give him some time."

Zuko sighed.

Katara yawned, "Goodnight Zuko." She fell asleep still holding his hand.

"Goodnight my beautiful Waterbender," he whispered.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On the other side of Appa Sokka and Yue whispered to each other.

"Sokka I really think you should stop acting like a jerk around Zuko. He's gonna get really mad eventually and hurt you. Katara likes him and I think this is a good thing."

"How is it a good thing? He is Fire Nation!? He was . . . _kissing her_ . . ."

She giggled. "So? You kiss me all the time, and he changed sides! He helped us Sokka. And I think it's all terribly romantic. You should leave them alone and let them fall in love. Besides, I think you and Zuko could be good friends if you gave him a chance."

Sokka grumbled and turned over in his sleeping bag.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning they all woke up bright and early to enter the small town. Katara wore her dark green kimono like dress with the black designs. She hadn't worn it yet and she decided to wear it for the occasion. Hopefully Aang could find an earthbending master today.

As they entered the town Sokka noticed a green bag and stopped to look at it. He couldn't decide if he wanted it or not.

"You're wasting time we didn't come here to shop," Zuko complained. He looked to where his Uncle was and noticed that he was over at another booth looking at figurines. Zuko sighed.

"It's pricy, but I really do like it," Sokka said ignoring Zuko.

"Then get it. You deserve something nice," Katara said.

"But it really is expensive."

"Alright then don't."

"You know what, I'm gonna get it."

A man stopped Zuko as they continued on and gave him a coupon for Master Hu's Earthbending Academy.

"Aang! This could be what we have been looking for!"

. . . . . . . . . .

"Uh, he's not the one."

"Fine let's go," Zuko started to leave when they overheard two students talking about Earth Rumble 6.

"Excuse me but where is this Earth bending tournament exactly?" Aang asked, running up to the two boys.

"It's on the island of none-ya . . . none-ya business!"

"Ba-hahahhahahahha."

Zuko rolled his eyes and Sokka laughed and hooked an arm around Aang. "Oh, I gotta remember that one!"

"I'll handle this. Hey strong guys wait up!" Katara yelled as she ran after the boys. A shocked and angry expression flooded Zuko's face as Katara started out after them. He ran after her and grabbed her wrist to stop her. "No, I will take care of it," he said in a low and angry voice that sent shivers up Katara's spine. She nodded unsure of what had upset him. _He's so hot when he's angry._ She watched Zuko sprint off after the boys.

Zuko effortlessly caught up with them and grabbed both of them and slammed them against a wall. "Where is the Earth Rumble?" One of the boys gulped and gave him the information he needed. Zuko stalked back to the rest of the group and told them what he had learned. They had several more hours before it started so Aang suggested they go and look for some food.

Apparently food was in short supply and was quite expensive. The surrounding forests had been heavily hunted by the nearby Fire Nation troops. They were able to purchase some lunch for three times the normal cost. Iroh suggested they ration it slowly, and suggested that Zuko and Sokka go hunting the next day.

It had been several hours and Zuko still wasn't speaking to Katara and had a permanent scowl on his face. They were making their way to the Earth Rumble and Katara had had all she could take of whatever Zuko was mad about. She told Aang and Iroh to go on ahead with Sokka and Yue. She needed to talk to Zuko and she knew Sokka would protest the two being alone, so she grabbed Zuko's hand and slipped away while Sokka wasn't paying attention. She jogged over to an ally dragging the Fire Prince behind her. He looked so different in the greens and browns of the Earth kingdom. Especially with that silly hat and no pony tail top knot.

"What's wrong?" she asked soothingly holding one of his larger hands in her small ones. He was still scowling.

"Those boys . . ." he shook his head. She still wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"Go on. . . what about them?"

"What you said to them. . ."

_Oh,_ now she remembered. She giggled a bit inside and stroked his face.

"Zuko, I wasn't being serious. I was just calling them strong to taunt them. They thought they were so tough." _Was he really that jealous?_

"I thought, perhaps . . . . You didn't think I was strong enough for you. I was angry because I didn't want you saying something like that to another man. I want you for me. I will get stronger if it's what you need Katara. I work out every day, I can do more for you. I will start working out twice a day."

Katara couldn't hold back the giggles any more. He gave her a dejected look. "You are so silly," she nuzzled her head in his chest still laughing. "Zuko I really was only making fun of them for acting so tough. Heck, Sokka could have taken them both on and won. I'd hate to see them after you got a hold of them. You are more than strong enough for me." She ran her hands over his biceps and onto his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Stop being so jealous," she whispered as he pulled her into a passionate kiss, his fingers winding in her hair and pulling her face closer to his.

. . . . . . . . . . .

**(I will go super-fast through the parts that are close to the show)**

Zuko and Katara caught up to the others and joined them on the front row. Surely Aang could find an Earth bending master here of all places. They had sat on the first row and Sokka wandered why no one else had when a large boulder came whizzing by their heads to answer his question. They watched as The Boulder took on various opponents and eventually the blind bandit. This little girl somehow even managed to beat The Boulder. She had a sharp tongue Aang had noted when she taunted The Boulder saying that no one wanted to watch two little girls fight.

"How did she do that?"

"She waited and listened." Aang looked as if he had just realized something. When they asked for challengers Aang quickly got on the floor, as Sokka cheered loudly for him. He tried to assure the girl he just wanted to talk and she wouldn't hear it. She wanted a fight, and Aang was forced to give it to her as he blew her off the arena with air bending. He tried to stop her as she left, but she was angry and didn't want to talk.

It didn't take long for the Avatar and his friends to learn who she was and where she lived. He remembered the flying boar from his vision. They went to the Bei Fong estate. Zuko and Iroh announced that they would go on back to camp for the night and Katara said that she would join them. That left Aang Yue and Sokka to visit the Blind Bandit. This was ok with Aang though he didn't like being away from Katara he knew she was safe with Zuko and Iroh, whom he now completely trusted. It would be good not to bring so many people when showing up unannounced anyways.

When the Bei Fongs were told that their guests included the Avatar and the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe they were shocked and elated to have company. Toph's earthbending mater was also there, and Aang kept trying to subtly hint at Toph needing to train him in Earthbending.

Back at the Earth Rumble several of the benders had decided that Aang and The Blind Bandit had planned and worked together to get the money. So they decided to capture them for ransom.

As Aang and Toph walked in the back yard, suddenly metal cages surrounded them. They were taken back to the Earth Rumble arena. When Sokka, Yue and the Bei Fongs realized what had happened the Bei Fongs began to worry and panic, they got money to pay the ransom and Yue and Sokka hurried out of the city to find Katara, Zuko and Iroh.

. . . . . . . .

Back at camp a tired Katara lay on her sleeping mat watching Zuko do a combination of working out and fire binding as Iroh instructed him. They were secluded in the woods so no one could see him practice. She knew she should be practicing herself but she couldn't pry her eyes off of him. He was so well trained. Each move precise perfect and deadly. Since the North Pole Aang had told her all about the Blue Spirit incident and she was thoroughly impressed with his skill set. Great. Just one more thing about him that drove her crazy, she wished she hadn't fallen so hard for him, but it was too late now. She had it bad. She just needed to let him think he was the only one head over heels.

Eventually she got up from her mat and walked toward the creek just a quarter mile from their campsite. She heard footsteps behind her and whirled around to see Zuko.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To the creek to bathe and practice bending," she answered simply.

"Not alone you're not."

"Yes, I am. I'm a big girl, Zuko, I can take care of myself." She walked on.

"You couldn't that night I saved you from the pirates," he smirked. She blushed as he approached her and quickly grabbed her wrists. "I'll save you from the pirates," he breathed in a low raspy voice that sent chills down her spine. She felt her knees give out as he pulled her close into his arms pulling her up into a kiss and supporting her weight in his arms.

"Katara! Katara!"

She pulled away from Zuko as she heard Yue yelling for her.

"Zuko, Katara you have to come quick. Aang has been captured."

The two glanced at each other and hurried off after the princess gathering Sokka on the way who exclaimed he couldn't find Iroh. Zuko told them he had gone to look for tea plants as they hurried past Appa who was munching on some hay they had managed to get in the city for him.

They arrived at the Earth Rumble arena just after Toph's parents. They managed to pay a ransom for Toph to get out. Unfortunately, this had only covered the cost for the young Earthbender. Aang was going to be turned over to the Fire Lord. Toph was tired of her father calling her weak and helpless. She decided to prove to him she wasn't by rescuing the Avatar. Sokka, Zuko, and Katara offered to help her, but she refused their assistance. One by one she began to take down the Earthbenders. It was an impressive sight, rocks were flying everywhere. Suddenly, a deflected rock came flying toward Katara and in the madness no one took notice until it slammed into her leg knocking her to the ground. Shock and concern flooded Zuko's face as he fell to his knees gathering her in his arms as she cried out in pain. He examined the hurt leg as Yue and Sokka also came to her side. Zuko was filled with anger as he gently passed her to Sokka and Yue. He had managed to spot the Earthbender who was responsible for it. And Zuko was going to make him pay. He charged him with a firey assault. The surprised man bended rock in front to protect him from the flame. Zuko was able to get closer with his superior hand to hand fighting skills and agility. He punched and kicked the man with flames burning him, but not severely because the blows were dealt quickly. Zuko could care less how badly he was burned after what he had done to Katara. A final spinning kick knocked him out of the arena with the others. This man was one of the last two and Toph was finishing off the other, sending him soaring. Zuko rushed back to Katara. She had water gloving her hand and she was healing her leg as much as she could, being supported by Sokka and Yue. Zuko kneeled next to her and put a comforting hand on her leg.

"I'm sorry. I failed to protect you," Zuko said.

"It's not your fault."

"She's right, none of us saw it coming," Yue said. Sokka nodded.

She continued to heal herself as Sokka and Yue passed her back to Zuko. A now released Aang ran to her.

"Katara! Are you ok?"

"I will be Aang." She offered a weak smile.

Her leg was definitely broken. There was no way she could completely heal it. Zuko scooped her into his arms and stood with the others.

They were needing to leave. Mr. Bei Fong was having a conniption because a Firebender was in his town. Zuko decided it was best for him to leave and he carried Katara back to camp to allow the others to work out the situation.

Mr. Bei Fing decided that his daughter needed less freedom and that the Avatar and his friends were no longer welcome in his estate. Toph disagreed with her father. She decided to sneak out the first chance she got.

Sokka, Aang, and Yue were walking back to camp, very downhearted. Katara had been hurt, Aang was almost sent to the Fire Nation and the Earthbending teacher he had tried to get had gotten captured.

"Wait up!" They turned to see Toph running up behind them.

"I thought your dad said you couldn't come?"

"He changed his mind."

Sokka was skeptical. "Well let's get going before he changes his mind again."

Little known to the gaang, at that very moment Toph's father was offering to pay her Earth bending teacher and the man who had captured her in the first place to bring her home.

. . . . . . . . . .

Iroh watched as Zuko strolled back into camp with Katara in his arms. It was obvious she was hurt and had been crying.

"What happened?"

"Maybe if you weren't too busy making your ridiculous tea you would know!"

Zuko stalked past Iroh angrily. He laid Katara on her sleeping mat, and caressed her face.

"I'm sorry,"

"For what?"

"You're hurt. I failed to protect you."

"It's not your fault Zuko."

"It won't happen again. I won't allow you to be hurt."

He bent down and lightly kissed her lips.

"You shouldn't be so cold to your uncle. He was making sure we were well feed and cared for."

"We need to get going," Sokka exclaimed arriving back at camp. Zuko nodded and picked Katara up to put her on Appa. Yue climbed up to sit with her. They would still need to walk. Flying wasn't safe. Momo flew over to Katara and landed on her shoulder. Iroh passed out tea to everyone and some berries he had gathered for them.

Sokka lead the way as they started off to find a safer place. Surely the Fire Nation had been alerted of the presence of the Avatar by now. Word travels so fast. The boys and Toph walked with Iroh and they could hear whispers and giggles coming from the saddle.

"Got a problem princesses?"

Yue leaned over the saddle frowning.

"We weren't talking about you or even anything that involves you," she said firmly. Katara had sat up and leaned over the side also.

"Well who were you talking about if not me?"

Katara and Yue giggled. "Zuko and Sokka," Yue said. Both boys blushed knowing that the girls were talking about the romantic moments each couple had shared.

Katara had been telling Yue all about what had happened in the cave and when Sokka found them in the woods. And Yue was telling Katara about how gentlemanly Sokka could be when they were alone. He was goofy alright, and she loved that about him. He was so funny, but he was also so gentle and respectful to her. He was so brave volunteering for the dangerous mission back at the Tribe. Then Katara had told Yue how jealous Zuko could be, and what had happened that morning, and how romantic he would be when they were alone.

Toph had had enough. "Why do the pretty pretty princesses get to ride when the rest of us are walking?"

"Katara's hurt," Zuko said defensively.

"And Yue is just keeping her company," Sokka added.

"You can ride if you want," Aang said. "But we want to walk so Appa gets a break too."

Toph shook her head. She was going to be a handful it seemed. Either that or she just didn't like other girls.

. . . . . . . . . . .

After walking for three hours or so it was decided to stop and set up camp.

The next morning Sokka and Zuko, who were now tolerating each other decided to go hunting. This time they worked together to make sure they covered all the ground and didn't miss anything. They weren't near a town and their money was low anyways. They would need more than just berries to keep their strength up.

They searched and searched and all they managed to find were a two gopher rabbits. They each took out one. This would make for a small breakfast for such a large group.


	10. Alone Pt 1

So this is the chapter that I have been so excited about. The last wasn't that great, but I promise to make up for it here.

Thank you to those who reviewed and to respond to one of the reviews- No the group will not stay this size, one of the members will permanently leave soon. I have it planned out. And no I am not talking about Zuko. This chapter is Zuko alone, but he comes back, just like in the series. Another of the characters will permanently leave soon and that will leave it the same size as the end of season 3 (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Zuko) but! I will not be telling you who will be leaving, when or why. Trust me I got loads of plot left up my sleeve. The chapters I plan to write will not be as weak as the last one, but I am very busy. So yeah life gets in the way and tiredness produces crappy writing.

Thank yall for continuing to support my story.

WARNING: lots of zutara fluffs in this chappy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Anything?" Yue asked.

Sokka shook his head.

"Not a thing," Zuko echoed as he walked into the clearing.

"What are we going to do?" she asked the boys. It had been a week since Toph had joined the team. They were extremely low on food and money and had been rationing both as they traveled through the heart of the Earth Kingdom, trying to avoid the Fire Nation. Iroh had diligently gathered berries with Aang and Yue as Sokka and Zuko hunted. Katara stayed at camp because of her broken leg, and Toph was off doing, well, whatever it is that Toph does when she is grumpy and unsocial.

"I don't know," Sokka sighed. Hunting had been useless for six days, absolutely nothing. They had almost no jerky left from their previous hunts. The villages they came to were all low on food. The costs were astronomical. The gaang couldn't stand the thought of taking food from hungry children anyways, and Katara had given several of her meals to small children when no one was looking. She was always the one to prepare the meals, with Yue's help. Many times she would sneak her portion of soup, meat or berries back in to the pot to give the others seconds. She knew it was harder for the bigger boys and Iroh to go without food and she gladly sacrificed her own desire for food to take care of the group. Teenage boys needed to eat, and she made sure Aang who was growing like a weed, Sokka, and Zuko who spent tons of energy training and working out needed the food. She and Yue knew they could go with less, and served themselves accordingly. Then many meals when no one was looking Katara would slip hers back into the pot. She suspected Iroh knew, as he often told her to eat more. And when it wasn't meal time he would say she needed to eat to allow her leg to heal, she had to keep up her strength. But that wasn't important to her right now.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

That afternoon as usual in the heat of the day, Zuko came up to Katara and lifted her into his arms. He carried her to the nearby stream so she could practice her bending. Later Yue would come and the girls would each take their baths. It wasn't safe for Katara to be alone with a broken leg, Zuko had announced, so Yue always went at the same time to keep her company. After they had each dressed Yue would go and get Zuko to carry Katara back to camp. But today was different. Zuko let Katara down and placed his hands on her waist to pull her into a kiss, and as he did so he stopped. Her waist was smaller than normal. It had always been tiny, but this . . . . felt down right unhealthy. He ran his hands over her frail form. Her ribs were sticking out and she felt like skin and bone.

"Katara, it feels like your starving," he whispered. She looked away from him, and he thought for a moment. True they had not been eating much, but they had been eating enough to live off of. Katara was already so tiny, he was certain her portion had been enough to keep her healthy, then again, she had a shorter distance to go to reach a point of starvation than did the others, but she had been eating. _Hadn't she?_ Come to think of it, Zuko couldn't remember ever seeing her take a bite from her bowl. Had she been starving herself to give the others more food?

"Katara look at me, have you been eating?" She didn't respond, she just looked down.

"Katara? Please tell me."

". . . no," she replied quietly.

"Why?"

She shook her head.

"Was it so everyone else could get more?"

She nodded.

"Katara, you can't do that. You need to eat."

He knew how she was, always selfless taking care of others. So he would just have to make sure and take care of her. He swept her back into his arms and returned to camp.

"Where is the food?"

"What food?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Any food, we had a little bit of jerky still saved earlier today."

"Yeah we did, _earlier,_" Sokka sighed.

Zuko was angry, "Well what happened to it?!"

"I was hungry! I'm sorry! It was just a tiny little bit anyways," Sokka defended.

Zuko sat Katara down. "Why do you always just think about yourself? Your sister is starving and you eat all of the food without so much as asking her if she wants some?!"

"Here we go," Toph narrated. Yue choked back a giggle and the two teen boys ignored the snide remark.

"We are all starving! I needed energy to look for more food so she could eat."

"She hasn't eaten in days!"

"Wait, what?"

Sokka calmed down at what Zuko had said and looked over at his sister.

"Is this true? Why?"

"I wanted everyone else to get enough. . . Yue did it too sometimes."

Sokka looked over at the white haired princess who looked down. "We don't want you starving yourselves for us, he said quietly."

"I'm tired of this! I'm going to do something about it," Zuko said. He walked over and untied the ostrich horse Aang had found several days ago and taken in from the tree that its rein had been tied to. The poor thing was just as hungry as the gAang and Aang had taken it in to feed it.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked.

"Going to find work. We are out of food and money. Something must be done. I've never been one to sit and wallow in self-pity. I am going to fix this."

"Nephew, are you sure you want to go out alone and leave the group? We should stick together, I agree that something must be done, but don't be rash. The Fire Nation could discover you."

"I'll have to take that risk." He put the saddle on the ostrich horse.

"Zuko," Katara beckoned hoping he wouldn't leave. "Please don't go."

"You are coming with me," he said as he walked to her and lifted her into his arms then on to the ostrich horse.

"Wait why are you taking Katara?" Aang asked.

"She needs to eat soon," Zuko replied. He climbed on the back of the ostrich horse behind Katara after strapping his swords to his belt.

"She will be safe," he told the Avatar. "We will come back with food. Stay along the river so we can find you, and keep trying to hunt and fish. You may have luck." And with that they were off.

. . . . . . . . . .

After a long while riding in the heat, Zuko saw a man on the side of the road cooking meat and he put his left hand on his sword hilt. Then he saw that the man was with a pregnant woman. He released his sword and Katara gasped, a lone tear in her eye. She had seen what he had considered doing. Guilt clenched him as he saw the horrified look on her face.

"Katara," She turned back to face forward.

"Katara, I stopped when I saw the woman with child."

"But you were going to kill that man for his food!" she hissed and smacked away a comforting hand he offered to place on her cheek.

"I didn't want to kill him! I just wanted to take the food."

"That is stealing Zuko!"

"I know what it is. I also know that you are starving and you are the most important thing to me in the world."

"Hmmph, I need a good man not someone who would steal and maybe even harm an innocent man," she said.

"I . . . arrgh, why am I so bad at being good?!" she could see the turmoil in his eyes. He really was trying, and he wanted to take care of her. She changed her tone and smirked at him.

"Cuz, you're so good at being bad," she replied.

He smirked. "I thought you said you wanted a good man."

"I said I _need_ a good man," she smiled flirtatiously. "I didn't say anything about what I wanted. All girls like the bad boys."

"Good thing you've got one." He turned her around on the ostrich horse where she was sitting side saddle facing him. She had been in front of him with her back to his front. He pulled her into him and kissed her ferociously dropping the rein to the bridle of the ostrich horse. He wasn't worried about it running off with them kissing on its back the poor animal was far too tired for such activities.

Zuko ran his hands all over her green earth kingdom robes. She wore the plain light green ones today and had her hair down with a large pink flower in it above her ear. Zuko had on his normal earth kingdom clothes and hat. She found him very handsome in this outfit. Zuko kissed down her neck to her chest and she shoved him off before he went to any other areas. She knew he would have kept going if she hadn't gently protested. He cared about her and the lightest protest from her was enough to make him stop.

"Zuko we just made out in the middle of a road."

"And?" he asked. She smiled and shook her head as he gathered the reins to keep going.

Zuko's stomach growled fiercely as they rode on. They were both feeling a little light headed and had drank all the water in Katara's water pouch that she kept her bending water in and the pouch Zuko had bought for them to drink. It was very hot out.

They finally saw a town in the distance. Once they entered the town Zuko rode up to a stand with a merchant behind it. There were several men standing across the street eying him. He looked back at them and dismounted leaving Katara on the ostrich horse. He approached the stand and offered the man two copper pieces.

"Can I get some water, a bag of feed, and something hot to eat?"

"Not enough here for a hot meal. I can get ya two bags of feed." Zuko lowered his head and caught a glimpse of two laughing boys sneaking around behind the stand. He watched as one of them threw an egg and hit one of the men across the street in the back of the head. Then the boys disappeared behind the corner.

"Hey!" the leader of the men yelled as they stood up.

"You throwin' eggs at us stranger?"

"No."

"You see who did throw it?"

"No." He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and watched to make sure they didn't approach Katara.

"Was it your pretty little girl here?"

"No," he replied firmly, sizing up his position and making sure he could get to Katara before any of the men. She sat silently on the ostrich horse knowing she was useless without water.

"The egg had to come from somewhere."

"Maybe a chicken flew over."

One of the men laughed and the leader shot him a glare as the merchant handed Zuko his feed bags.

The leader shot in front of Zuko.

"Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support. You better leave town, penalty for staying is a lot steeper than you can afford stranger. Trust me."

He patted a hammer hanging from his belt and turned to leave.

"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from Fire Nation, but they are just a bunch of thugs."

"I'm looking for work. Could I find it in this town?"

The merchant sighed. "I doubt it."

Zuko walked back to the ostrich horse.

"Thanks for not ratting me out!" the little boy who threw the egg popped up in front of him and said. Zuko ignored him and stepped around him to mount the ostrich horse behind Katara who placed a loving hand on his chest before turning to lean back against it.

The boy ran after them. "I will take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come on! I owe you!" With that he grabbed the reins and lead the animal and its riders to his house. Zuko gripped his stomach in intense hunger again, and he knew Katara must be much worse off. She had been light headed the entire trip falling back against his chest on multiple occasions. He would support her and hold her up. Now was one of those times. Her eyes closed and she fell back. He wrapped his arm around her and shook her gently to bring her back to consciousness. How could he let her get like this!? It was all his fault. He hadn't taken proper care of her.

"Is she ok?"

"No, she hasn't eaten in days."

The boy looked sad as Katara came to, clinging to Zuko weakly as he held her up.

. . . . . . . .

They finally reached the farm and Zuko had dismounted to walk with the boy after Katara was able to hold herself up again.

The pig sheep and cow sheep oinked and bahhed loudly.

"No one can ever sneak up on us," the boy, Lee, said.

"No kidding."

Lee's father met then outside. "You friends of Lee's?"

"This guy just stood up to the soldiers! By the end he practically had them running away," the boy bragged on Zuko.

"Does _this guy_ have a name?" Lee's mother asked as she walked up.

"I'm . . . uh," Zuko wasn't sure what to say.

"He doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want to Sela," Lee's father remarked. "Anyone who can hold his own against those bully _soldiers _is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms."

"The real soldiers are off fighting the war, like Lee's big brother Sensu. Supper is going to be ready soon, would the two of you like to stay?"

"I would be very greatful, I do not normally accept things for which I cannot pay, but she needs to eat," he said as he very gently lifted Katara off of the ostrich horse and sat her down next to him. Her leg was healed to where she could stand and walk short distances thanks to her bending, but Zuko still had to carry her for long distances.

"When is your baby due? It must be a long time because you are so slim," Sela asked Katara as Zuko looked down at Katara and they both blushed.

"I'm not pregnant," Katara replied. Her face was red.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I just thought. . . he was so gentle with you . . . he said you needed to eat. . . forgive me," Sela was just as red as the young couple.

"It's ok," Katara smiled at her reassuringly.

"She has a broken leg that is still healing," Zuko stated. To change the subject, Zuko said "I still don't feel right not being able to pay you for your hospitality."

"Gonsu could use some help on the barn, why don't you two work for a while, and then we will eat." Zuko nodded in approval. "And you can come inside with me and rest, she said looking at Katara."

Katara limped forward and Zuko's arms shot around her frail waist. "I've got it," she said looking at him reassuringly.

Katara went inside with Sela and Zuko went to roof the bar with Gonsu.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry if I insulted you."

"Oh, no ma'am not at all," Katara replied.

"When he said something about you needing to eat. . ."

"We haven't had much food lately; he is very worried about me, but I am fine."

Sela went into the adjacent kitchen, it was a small house so she was stil close enough to see and have a conversation with Katara. She was still stuck on explaining herself. "And he was so gentle with you. I thought that's what it had to be, when he lifted you off the ostrich horse." She sighed, "young love, I remember when Gonsu and I were like that. All those new exciting feelings. We are still in love very much but those first few years were quite special. How long have the two of you been married?"

"Oh," Katara was blushing again. "We aren't. We have been together several weeks, but we have known each other longer," she supposed even when they were fighting each other they did technically know each other.

"Oh, sticking my foot in my mouth again, I appologise."

"No need," Katara smiled. "And you are right. It is wonderful feeling this way about someone."

"He seems to be a good one, you are lucky, so many good boys are lost to us in this horrid war." Katara nodded thinking about how odd it was for her to be in a relationship with the Prince of the Fire Nation.

Sela sat a bowl of rice in front of Katara, "Go ahead and eat, you look so frail. He is right to be worried."

"Oh, no I couldn't eat without him I will wait."

Sela nodded, "It will be ready soon, and I will call the men as soon as it is," she went back to tending the food preparation.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko hammered away on the roof, but for some reason, no matter how hard he hammered the nails didn't go straight in like Gonsu's. He was going about ten times slower than the older man because of his nail problems. It was frustrating.

"You don't seem like you're from around here."

"uh-uh" Zuko shook his head to respond to the child.

"Where are you from then?"

"Far away"

"Oooooohhhhhhh, where you going?"

"Lee, give it a rest. Stop asking the man personal questions. Got it?"

The boy sighed. "Yes," he said in understanding, but his curiosity wasn't sated.

"So how'd you get that scar?" Zuko looked up and hammered his thumb. "Mmmmmmph"

"It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A man's past is his business."

Zuko thought about what he said and remembered his childhood. Before he had been scarred and banished.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Eventually dinner was done and Sela called out the window. The men eagerly put the tools away and made their way to the house. When they arrived the table was set and Katara and Sela were seated and wating for them. Lee hurried up to the table and left a seat between himself and Katara, knowing Zuko would sit by her. He wanted to sit next to the new guy who reminded him of his brother. Sure enough he got to. Zuko sat between Katara and Lee. Zuko and Katara thanked them again for their hospitality and began to eat. After dinner Gonsu told them that they were welcome to stay in the barn overnight and Zuko gladly accepted his invitation. Katara insisted on helping with dishes and Zuko carried the water from the well to the kitchen.

After this Zuko went to the barn with Katara when they walked out of the front door he had swept her off her feet so she wouldn't have to walk that distance.

"I can walk. I feel stronger now," she protested, but he shook his head and continued carrying her. He laid her down in a large pile of hay, and removed his hat and swords. He leaned the swords against the wall, and lie down next to Katara, pulling her into his arms.

"We finally get to spend some time alone together," he said.

"Who would have ever thought, you and I? Is it right Zuko, is this how it's supposed to be?" Katara asked.

"Of course it is. I am the Fire Prince and I can have whomever I please," he smirked, but Katara paid him no attention.

"What about Aang?" Zuko reacted as if he had been hit. He let go of her and sat up.

"What about him?" he spat.

"He likes me so much, I don't want to break his heart. But . . ."

Zuko stood up, his fists clenched and fire began coming out of the back of them.

"So, you lead me on just to get me to stop chasing you and then you go to the Avatar. I should have known." Zuko turned to storm away and she jumped up to grab his arm.

"No! Zuko,"

"Enough, get away from me wench."

Katara bursted with tears and fell to her knees calling after Zuko, "Zuko wait you didn't let me finish I was going to say I had no feelings for him only you!"

He turned at the barn door to see her huddled on her knees on the floor of the barn crying.

He was still frowning and looking down at her angrily.

"I mean it Zuko!" she cried. "I only want you, I was just going to say I felt badly for hurting him."

The Fire Prince studied her. She was a really good actress if she was acting. Her sobs slowed as she looked up at him and meekly stood and approached him. His expression didn't change and he didn't move. She stopped in front of him with her head still down. She slowly looked up into his fierce eyes. She could get lost in those magnificent golden orbs. His features were so hard and he had the frown on his face that was all too familiar to her. She remembered it from when he would be chasing them, trying to capture Aang.

She gently lifted her hand and touched his scar lightly. He closed his eyes but didn't change his expression as she ran her fingers over it. Suddenly his hand covered hers and held it against the scar. He was still every bit the angsty prince that she had fallen for.

He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her lips. Another tear fell from her eye and he wiped it away.

"I'm sorry," she breathed looking down. He lifted her chin and bent down to kiss her.

"I overreacted; I tend to do that," he smiled.

"I was just saying I felt bad for hurting him."

"I know now, but you shouldn't."

She nodded, and silently hoped Aang wouldn't hurt too badly when he found out about Zuko and herself.

"You shouldn't be walking, your leg still needs to rest and heal." He lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the hay.

"I'm ok Zuko, you don't have to carry me everywhere." He laid her down and sat down next to her. "My beautiful angel," he said as he played with her silky, brown hair.

"We finally get to spend some time alone together," he whispered as he leaned over her and moved so he was straddling her.

She squirmed, "No Zuko please, I'm not ready."

He nodded, "I'm not going to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable."

She let out a breath. "Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded and he bent over her to kiss her hungrily; he was careful to put his weight on his forearms and not on her small body. She kissed him back passionately and placed her hands on his chest. His kisses traveled down her neck and she moaned and caressed his chest as his hands scooped under her back pulling her body up closer to him, He kissed his way down to her chest and she arched her back as his hands caressed her waist, stomach, and back.

He moaned feeling her body in his hands as he continued kissing his way down her chest to where her dress was low cut, by this time her hands were clenching his biceps. He loved when she clinged to him. He made his way back up to her mouth, locking his lips with hers. He suddenly flipped them over, so that he was on his back holding her upper arms which kept her upper body hovering an inch above his own and her hips draped over his lower body. Their tongues were darting quickly into the other's mouth as lips smashed wildly into lips.

Eventually they wore themselves out and simply lie there holding hands. Katara began to shiver and Zuko noticed this. He pulled her into his arms and began pouring heat from his body into hers by warming his inner flame with his bending. They both fell asleep in the comfort of the other's embrace.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Please Review! This chapter is going to be at least 2 parts just so yall know. Please review. It makes my day when ppl review. Tell me what you think about the fluff.


	11. Alone Pt 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or anything else.

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Lee sneaked up to the barn the two newcomers were sleeping in. He slipped in and tiptoed towards where Zuko's swords were leaned against the wall. Zuko sighed in his sleep and Lee glanced down to see Zuko still asleep with his arms around the girl holding her protectively against his chest. Lee tiptoed back out and closed the door behind him. Zuko opened his good eye and looked toward the door. He released his hold on Katara and stood up to follow the thieving child from a distance.

As Zuko went out of the barn Katara stirred awake feeling cold. She got up and left the barn looking for Zuko.

Zuko saw the boy flinging the swords around in the field and chopping up plants recklessly; then Lee began stabbing a tree with repetitive right and left jabs from the broadswords.

"You are holding them wrong," Katara heard Zuko say from a distance. She looked to see Lee in the field with Zuko's swords, and she decided to observe from a distance.

"AH!" Lee shouted and fell into the flowers. Zuko had startled him. He stood with a sad look on his face keeping his head down. He held up the swords to give back to Zuko who took them.

"Keep in mind, these are duel swords, two halves of a single weapon," he said placing them together. Katara felt butterflies in her stomach, his deep voice often did that to her. He was so mysterious; she felt herself blush as he displayed fighting stances with the swords._ What is my deal with boys and swords? _She berated herself for feeling so swept away by Zuko.

"Don't think of them as separate, because they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole." He chopped another flower in half as he went through the motions. Her knees were getting weak. She watched as he gave the swords back to the boy who tried to imitate Zuko. It was obvious how much Lee seemed to idolize Zuko. He probably reminded the child of his older brother. _Well why don't we just start a Zuko fan club?_ Katara mused to herself as she looked longingly at the Firebender who was unaware of her presence.

Zuko let out a half smile and nodded in approval of Lee who was seeking his approval and very glad to get it. He laughed happily.

"I think you would really like my brother Sensu," Lee said to Zuko as the two walked back towards the house and barn. "He used to show me stuff like this all the time."

As they reached the end of the path they saw Katara standing there. She was smiling knowingly at Zuko who smirked at her.

"You should go to bed it's late," Zuko said to Lee who nodded and ran off to the house.

Katara walked up to Zuko and placed her hand on his face and kissed him.

"Ewww!" he heard from the porch. Zuko pulled away and shot Lee a look telling him to go on to bed, now, or this whole thing might be revealed to Gonsu. Lee caught the drift and rushed inside.

"What you did was good Zuko." Katara assured him. He smirked, "I know."

"I think Lee would start a Zuko fan club if he had the chance. He seems to be enamored with you."

"I don't think he is the only one who is," Zuko stated confidently. Katara blushed and looked away, hoping he wouldn't notice. He did and his grin only grew. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her. He pulled away quickly and looked down at her, stroking her cheek.

"Why don't you tell me what it is about me that you like so much," he whispered confidently, "I know you've told Yue." She blushed harder and looked down. "Maybe I can help you remember," he said as he picked her up. She was glad he picked her up because she was sure her knees would have buckled if he hadn't. He carried her to the barn and laid her back down in the hay.

"Now, tell me, what it is about me that you like so much," he demanded. She rolled away from him playfully. Why was she doing this? Didn't she know he loved the chase? It only excited him more. He climbed over her and turned her to face him gripping her wrists in both hands and pinning them over her head as he smiled confidently. She wiggled to get out of his grasp to no avail, and she tried to hide her smile, but he saw it.

"Tell me Katara, why you are so enthralled with me?" he asked, his voice low and velvety.

"You're imagining things, you arrogant-"

"Is it my strength that draws you?" he cut her off. She could try to play hard to get all she wanted, but he knew the truth.

She blushed fiercely. "Oh, that seems to be part of it," he smirked noting her blush.

"Do you like my boldness and fearlessness? Admit it, you like watching me fight Zhao."

She turned her head so she wouldn't see his smirk, and give herself away."

"What about my skill with broadswords?" he asked confidently as her touched the sword hilt, still attached to his belt. "You love watching me with these. I am a master swordsman you know?"

"You assume too much."

"I don't have to; your blush gives you away. You're very beautiful when you blush."

"Then is it my Firebending? You don't want to admit that you are fascinated by it, do you?"

"I'm not!" _It's just that you are so breathtaking to watch when you bend. You put every part of yourself into it, and you are strong and skilled in it, and I do love the broadswords. Your skill and strength leave me weak in the knees._

"Then, is it my voice that draws you, my fair maiden?" he whispered huskily in her ear in his deep tone.

She gasped and looked up at him. He was leaning over her closely now, his hands still holding her wrists down on both sides, gently but firmly. His knees were on the outsides of her thighs as he straddled her.

"I'm going to steal a kiss from a beautiful maiden that I have caught," he whispered. And he bent down to kiss her. She surrendered her lips to his assault of passionate kisses, and returned them with her own.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning Katara awoke in Zuko's warm embrace.

"My beautiful angel," he murmured deeply. He kissed her lips briefly before standing. She still laid there thinking as he gathered their things and saddled the ostrich horse. She thought about Sela thinking that they were married and asking if she were pregnant. She blushed and thought about their passionate feelings. It wouldn't be such a bad thing to be married to him, or bare his child. She silently berated herself for thinking such things. It was far too soon for such thoughts.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

They gathered in front of the house with the kind family who had taken them in for the night. Zuko lifted Katara onto the ostrich horse and then climbed up himself.

"Here, this ought to get you through a few meals," Sela said as she handed Zuko a package.

He looked up after taking it from her and saw a cloud of dust in the distance. The 'soldiers' from the town were riding toward them. Gonsu walked forward to stand next to the ostrich horse.

"What do you think they want?" he asked.

"Trouble," Zuko replied coldly. The cow sheep and pig sheep oinked at the approaching men.

"What do you want?" Gonsu asked.

"Just thought someone ought to tell you, your son's battalion got captured."

Gonsu had a look of shock and fear on his face.

"You boys hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"

"Dressed them up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them on the front line unarmed the way I heard it." He paused to spit, "Then they just watched."

"You watch your mouth!" Gonsu challenged. The leader approached him on his ostrich horse, and Zuko pulled his ostrich horse in from of Gonsu to block the approach. He gave the man a firm, but not haughty look telling him to stay back. Katara leaned into Zuko's back, trying to get closer to him. She wasn't afraid, but she didn't want to be seen or brought into the argument. She had no water to defend herself.

"Well, well darlin' you aint gotta be afraid of us. I'm sure you would enjoy my company much more than this guy's," he said looking at Katara lustfully. "Why bother rooting around in the mud with these pigs when you could go with us?" he asked her.

Zuko turned the ostrich horse so he couldn't see her. "Leave now, or I will make you wish you had." Zuko was angry, and he knew he wasn't good at controlling himself at these times.

"Hahaha, he's gonna make us haha oh that's good. Okay stranger, we will head out, but we will meet again soon." He left with his men.

"What's gonna happen to my brother?" Lee asked as Zuko lowered his head remembering when he got news of Lu Ten's death. Zuko felt Katara lovingly caress his back and shoulders.

"I'm going to the front. I'm going to find Sensu, and bring him back," Gonsu said to his family. Sela fell into his arms weeping as the two turned to go back to their home.

Lee approached Zuko, "When my dad goes will you stay?"

"No, I need to move on. Here," he said as he handed the child his dagger, "I want you to have this. Read the inscription."

"Made in Earth Kingdom."

"The other one."

"Never give up without a fight."

Zuko turned the ostrich horse and rode off. He was in deep thought and pretty soon he pulled off on the side of the road, telling Katara he needed to think. She nodded and he laid down in the grass. She kneeled next to him, and would occasionally caress his face or shoulders. He would give her a faint smile when she did this or reach up to brush his fingers over her lips or face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked meekly caressing his face.

"No," he replied simply.

Suddenly they heard someone approach. Sela jumped out of a wagon.

"You have to help! It's Lee. The folks from town came back as soon as Gonsu left. When ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them! I don't even know where he got a knife. Then they took him away; they told me if he's old enough to fight, he's old enough to join the army. I know we barely know you, but . . ." she started crying.

"I'll get your son back," Zuko stated firmly.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko rode into the town on the ostrich horse with Katara.

"There he is! I told you he'd come." Lee was tied up to a large structure in the middle of the town. The men rose when Zuko rode up, prepared for a fight. The leader approached him as he dismounted and gave Katara his hat.

"Stay here, your hurt and I can handle this," he whispered to the Waterbender. It wasn't like she had any water to bend anyways so she nodded in agreement.

Zuko approached the soldiers who stood in a row blocking the boy.

"Let the kid go," Zuko said in a tone that gave Katara the chills.

"Hahahaha! Who do you think you are? Telling us what to do."

"It doesn't matter who I am, but I know who you are. You're not soldiers, you're bullies, freeloaders abusing your power, mostly over women and kids. You don't want Lee in your army. You're sick cowards messing with a family who's already lost one son to the war." Katara got chills listening to his deep voice.

"Are you gonna let this stranger stand there and insult you like this?"

A man charged Zuko with a spear, and he effortlessly evaded it by stepping to the side as his hand met the hilt of his sword. In a swift motion Zuko drew his sword and in effect punched the man in the stomach with the handle of it, throwing him back onto the ground.

Zuko returned his swords to his belt and another man rushed him with a spear. Zuko took a defensive stance, and knocked the side of the spear away with his left hand and grabbed the man's head with his right, forcing him to the ground.

Katara felt her heart skip a beat. It seemed almost effortless for him and this was . . . very attractive. She felt shallow, but Zuko was hot . . . and a very skilled warrior, which only increased the hotness.

The man got up and ran back to the group, and Zuko's gaze shifted to the next man charging him. Zuko kicked his spear, breaking it in half. Lee laughed as the man ran away. A crowd was gathering and Sela was among them. Katara stayed on the ostrich horse.

The leader of the group pulled out his two hammers and Zuko drew his swords. The man began to Earthbend by smashing his hammers into the ground and bending rocks at Zuko at dangerous speeds. Zuko slashed at them with his swords, becoming angrier by the minute. He broke up the first few, but one finally hit him in the chest and Katara gasped.

Zuko decided it was time to go on the offensive and he charged the man. He made good progress until a rock hit him in the shoulder, sending him flying backwards. Katara covered her mouth having almost yelled his name.

"Look out!" a man in the crowd yelled.

"Behind you!" Lee chimed in.

Zuko took steps back as he deflected the onslaught of rocks flying at him with his broadswords. A hammer smashed into the ground shooting a large formation of rock to pop out of the ground and hit Zuko, knocking him down on his back and causing his head to smack against the ground. He fell unconscious for a split second, remembering something his mother had told him. _Never forget who you are._

"Get up," Lee pleaded. Tears came to Katara's eyes as the man approached Zuko.

"No!" she yelled, silently cursing herself for not having water with her.

"Shut her up! We can have some fun with her after all this is over," the leader yelled and his men pulled Katara off of the ostrich horse and restrained her.

Zuko jerked back into consciousness and grabbed his swords. He stood and Bended a wave of fire around himself knocking the man onto his back. Zuko stood amidst the flames angrily. Lee looked at this sight and was horrified. The Earthbender stood again, ready to fight and Zuko charged him, bending a ball of fire at him. The Earthbender was knocked back against a shed.

"Who . . . who are you?"

"My name is Zuko, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne!"

The crowed stood gawking at him as he looked around seeing some of the men holding Katara.

"Let her go," he said firmly, and they released her and turned and ran away.

"You're a liar. I've heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast. Your own father burned and disowned you!"

Zuko ignored him. Katara ran to Zuko from the other side of the street, and they embraced each other. Zuko took the knife from the Earthbender to offer it to Lee. He took Katara's hand when she offered it to him and approached Lee. The boy's mother got in the way.

"Not a step closer!"

Zuko let go of Katara's hand and knelt, holding out the knife,

"It's yours. You should have it."

"No! I hate you!" the boy stated before he and his mother turned and walked away. Zuko remained kneeling and Katara put her hands on his shoulders. He stood and led Katara back to the ostrich horse and lifted her up onto it again. He then climbed up behind her himself. They left the town with people angrily lining both sides of the street.

"Zuko," Katara cooed leaning her head back against his shoulder.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Fine," he responded coldly. She reached up to stroke his face comfortingly. She knew how he was. He just wanted silence so he could think, and she respected that. It must be hard constantly being rejected by everyone. Not only had the people of the town hated him for who he was, but they also reminded him how his people hate him and rejected him. He had no one, but his uncle and his crew and yet he had kept going. But now, he had her, and she wouldn't leave him, not ever. She knew he was strong and wouldn't admit to needing her, but he did. Even the powerful and self-reliant Fire Nation prince needed someone. It was like he said, he did have to fight and struggle, and indeed it had made him strong. But she wouldn't let him face it alone any more.

She turned and gently kissed his lips before turning back around and laying her head on his shoulder.

**Five points if you can pick out the movie quote in this chap. I will give you a hint. It's said by Katara to Zuko in my chapter and the movie character who says it is very similar to Katara. In fact I have seen fan art with Katara as this person. In the movie she doesn't say it to her lover though, it's to another character.**

**Let me know what you think of this chap please!**

**-engineergirl86**


	12. Moonlight

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender

. . . . . . . . . .

Katara had fallen asleep leaning back against Zuko's chest as they continued on toward the next town. It was getting late so he decided to stop and make camp for the night. He kissed her cheek to gently wake her.

"Katara," he whispered to his Waterbender. He was so thankful to have her. She had stood by his side at the town when everyone else had hated his guts. He would have understood if she hadn't stood by him, but he knew that was her nature. She was loyal to those she cared about, and he counted himself lucky to be in that number.

"Tara," he whispered again.

"Hmm?" she stirred awake. He kissed her cheek again. "It's late. We need to stop for the night. The ostrich horse needs rest and apparently so do you," his deep voice rumbled in her ear. She shivered like she had all those months ago when she had been tied to a tree and he circled her whispering in her ear. He noticed her shiver and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back against him again as he steered the ostrich horse off the road and towards a small stream where they could make camp. The grass was tall and there were few trees around. He stopped the animal in front of the stream and climbed off, reaching back up to lift her down. She gladly leaned into his arms and he lowered her to where her elbows rested on his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her thighs holding her tightly. He had purposefully put her where her lips were right above his. She knew what he wanted and she brushed her lips over his and pulled away teasing him. She smirked.

"Don't tease me; I will get what I want one way or another," Zuko said confidently. She decided to give in seeing as he hadn't had the best day. She didn't want him to question her feelings for him. She cupped his face and leaned in to kiss him. He kissed her back passionately, holding on to her slender body tightly. The tongues danced around each other madly. Finally she had to come up for air and she broke the kiss. Zuko was saddened by this and felt like he could go on kissing her forever, but he did feel a surge of pride seeing what he had done to her. She was out of breath and panting softly. He sat her down and unloaded their belongings from the ostrich horse. She began to unpack and spread out their sleeping bags as he led the ostrich horse to the stream to allow it to drink.

Katara finished laying out the camp and looked up to the stream. She saw Zuko removing his shirt and groaning as he did so. She remembered the Earth bender hitting him with all those rocks earlier. She should have already offered to heal him. Why was she so stupid? She hobbled to the stream. Her leg was giving her problems again. She made it to the edge of the stream and watched him relaxing in the cool stream to soothe his bruised body.

"Zuko, let me heal you. I know you got hurt today." She blushed seeing him without a shirt.

He noticed her blushing and he smirked, having totally forgotten his need for healing.

"Come on in," he smirked.

"I don't want to get my clothes wet. You come out. It's not comfortable to swim in all of this."

"Then take it off," he said with a smirk.

She gasped and slashed him in the face by Waterbending.

"No! I am not taking my clothes off!"

He laughed quietly. "I didn't expect you to. Though I wouldn't complain if you did," he smirked. "Just take off your outer clothes."

"I. . . I don't know." Sure she had only worn her undergarments around her brother and the Avatar and Yue many times but this was different. Zuko was a boy! Well technically so were Sokka and Aang, but Sokka was family and Aang may as well be. Besides Zuko was staring at her like she was a sweet treat he wanted to gobble up.

"Are you scared of me?" he asked smiling like he was about to get his way.

"Well no, but . . . ugh . . . yes! I don't trust you," she said looking at her feet. "Just get out here so I can heal you! Stop being so difficult!"

"I could always just come out and get you," he said confidently.

She backed away smiling flirtatiously.

"You're asking for it," he warned. She kept backing away and as he started towards her she untied her sash and dropped it at her feet. He stopped to watch her take off her shoes, dress, and leggings. He gasped when he saw her tan legs. He wouldn't admit it, but this was the most he had ever seen of a woman before. She removed her undershirt and he knew he had made a mistake asking her to do this. He hoped he would be able to control himself. She slowly walked toward the water allowing him a liberal view of her body. She stepped into the water watching him watch her. She walked up to him gracefully in the waist deep water. As soon as she was in his reach he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. He began to kiss her fiercely.

"My beautiful angel," he breathed as he kissed her neck.

He forced himself to stop kissing her before he lost all control of himself. She cupped his face.

She ran her hands over his skin studying each scar and bruise and kissing them before she healed the new ones. Some had been there for a long time and there was nothing she could do for them, so she would brush her lips over them leaving light kisses. She noticed that as she was doing this he was staring at her body. She blushed. She went back to healing him and kissing his scars and bruises when she noticed he was smiling. _What? He never smiles. He smirks a lot, but that is a smile._

"Zuko," she whispered looking up at him. He wrapped her in his arms, "Katara."

"Do you feel better now?"

"So much, you couldn't imagine," he whispered still holding his Waterbender in his arms. She blushed feeling his bare muscular arms and chest pressed against her. She had very much enjoyed giving her ministrations all over his upper body. He had enjoyed it too; just as he was enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his is the water. Her breasts were pressed against his chest and he was fighting off male urges while at the same time enjoying it too much to push her away.

She yawned and leaned her head on his chest. Suddenly she felt herself being swept up into the air in his arms. He carried her out of the water and to her sleeping bag. He moved her to where she was slung over his shoulder as he bent down and pulled her sleeping bag over on top of his. Then he laid the sleepy girl on top of the stack. He left and went back to their things and he pulled out some food.

"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily.

"Getting some food. I am starving."

She nodded and sat up. She bended the water off of their clothes. The Fire prince sat down behind her and pulled her back into his arms. He broke the sandwich Sela had packed in half and gave half of it to Katara as he ate his half. She took a few bites and handed him the rest.

"I'm not hungry," she said.

"Eat Katara. I won't let you starve yourself."

"You need it more than I do and I am not hungry."

He sighed. "Please eat for me. I don't want you fainting again."

"Zuko, don't treat me like a child. I am not hungry. I want you to eat it."

He broke a small piece off and pressed it to her lips. "Eat Tara, please. You are so thin. I want you to be well."

She sighed and ate it. He broke off another piece and she ate it too. After a few more bites he was content with the amount she had eaten and put the food to the side pulling her down to lay in the sleeping bag. He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her tightly. They were sharing a sleeping bag. He had put one on top of the other to make it more comfortable.

"Zuko, let me go get my clothes by the stream; I'm cold."

"No," he said simply, half asleep, not releasing his grasp on her. She struggled, but he held on.

"Why won't you let me go get them?"

He stirred awake and looked at her squarely. "Because I love what you are wearing right now and I don't want you covered up. You're stunningly beautiful," he said looking into her eyes. "I'll keep you warm," he promised, raising his internal body temperature to transfer heat to her. She snuggled closer to him, surrendering to his wishes, for now at least. She was too tired to argue further, and quickly drifted to sleep.

Zuko glanced over at the ostrich horse; it was tied to a tree on a long rope so it had plenty of slack to wander around and drink from the stream. There was also a patch of grass close to the stream which was rare in this semi-arid climate. He looked to make sure his broad swords were within reach in case he needed them. This wasn't the safest area for travelers and he planned to be prepared to protect Katara and himself if he was faced with the need. Of course he could always Fire Bend, but he had always loved using his broad swords. He liked to keep his options open. He glanced around once more before looking down at the beautiful girl in his arms. Suddenly he remembered how little she was wearing and he fought back the urges that came to his mind with this revelation. Honor was very important to him and he would act accordingly. He laid back down and pulled her close to keep her warm.

. . . . . . . . . .

Zuko was a light sleeper. He woke to the sound of footsteps and rustling around. He glanced over to the stream and saw two large men attempting to steal the ostrich horse. The Fire Prince sprung to action grabbing the swords next to him and sprinting toward the creek.

"I suggest you leave now while you're still able to walk away."

Just then he heard Katara gasp behind him and he turned to see a third man trying to pull her out of the sleeping bag. Zuko reacted instantly and kicked a wave of fire toward the man, knocking him back and setting his clothes on fire. He dropped his hold on Katara and dropped to the ground to roll and put out the fire. Katara took the opportunity to run to Zuko, no easy task with her broken leg, so he ran to meet her half way. He pulled her into his arms. The two men by the river looked frightened.

"He's a Firebender?"

"We shoulda brought more people," the other replied.

"You were just leaving remember?" Zuko asked.

Katara decided to give them a little encouragement and she bended the stream up to wash them off of their feet. The two got up and ran to the road. Zuko heard a faint sound behind him and whipped around to see the third man attempting to sneak up on them with a knife. Still holding his swords Zuko effortlessly disarmed him by hitting the man's hand with his own and the hilt of the sword. This knocked the knife from the man's hand into Zuko's. He then struck the man in the chest with the hilt of his other sword, effectively knocking him down. Zuko spun the sword around and held it to the man's throat.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you."

The man gasped in terror. Katara placed her hands on Zuko's back to get him to calm down and make the right decision. He sighed.

"Get out." He said, standing up and putting his swords back in the sheath. The man quickly got up and ran away.

Zuko pulled Katara into his arms.

"Zuko, I'm fine," she whispered.

"Did you see how he looked at you? Like you were just some slab of meat and he was going to devour you! I should have finished him."

"Don't say that! You did the right thing!" she said cupping his face.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Short but lots of fluff. I hope yall like. I am sorry I haven't been updating much. I only have 2 more days of school. Finals suck. Thus the shortness.**


	13. New Places

Zuko and Katara awoke the next morning and loaded up the ostrich horse. They had to reach the next town today. They needed to bring food and money back to their group. After all of their belongings were loaded Zuko lifted Katara up onto the ostrich horse and started to lead it out to the road and toward the next town. It was just past dawn so the sun wasn't hot yet. But he put his hat on in preparation. Katara had filled her water skin in the stream.

"Are you not going to ride?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Not yet."

They continued on in a comfortable silence for the next couple of hours. She liked the silence that traveling with Zuko held. It was a nice change to traveling with Aang and her brother.

"Zuko, drink some water," Katara said softly handing him her water skin. As he did she reached down to stroke his shoulder and back. He handed the water skin back to her and she took a small drink as well, and they continued on.

In the distance they began to see a small town. Zuko climbed up onto the ostrich horse and Katara welcomed the closeness to him as she felt his arms go around her waist to hold the rein. Zuko sped up the ostrich horse and they hurried into the town. This one was larger than the last. There were many merchants around selling fruit and the like.

Zuko dismounted and helped Katara down. He tied the ostrich horse to a hitching post.

"Can you walk?" he asked her and she nodded. He was so over protective sometimes. Her leg was better, though not perfect and she could walk for short distances.

They wandered into to crowd and she felt Zuko's arm around her waist holding her close as if he was afraid someone would snatch her away from him.

"How can I help you? Would you like some of my delicious oranges?" the first vendor he came to asked.

"Actually I am looking for work. Do you know where I could find it?"

"Kenji is looking for a farm hand if you are interested in that."

Zuko nodded and the merchant told them how to get to Kenji's house.

"Thank you."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko knocked on Kenji's door which was quickly answered by an elderly woman.

"Hello, my name is Li and I am looking for work."

The woman nodded. "Come in and have some tea, my husband is in the fields working. We have a very large farm as I am sure you saw and we need much help."

Zuko nodded. "I would be honored."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and the others had continued down the river as Zuko had instructed. Aang was making progress on earthbending, slowly but surely and Toph was adapting to the group. It turned out that Iroh knew much about being a warrior and he was helping Sokka do warrior training. Yue had taken over as the cook of thy group and she washed most of the clothes with help from Iroh and occasionally Aang. It had only been three days since their departure from Katara and Zuko and they had made it pretty far down the river. It was essential to keep moving with Fire Nation soldiers in such close proximity.

Finally they had come upon a town on the river and Aang had decided it would be a good idea to check it out.

"Let's split up gang!" Sokka declared holding an index finger in the air.

"Toph and I will go in and check it out for fire nation soldiers and come back and tell you if it's safe. It would be great if we could find a town willing to feed us again," he said as he placed a hand over his growling stomach.

"That's a good idea," Iroh responded. "With the Fire Nation having wanted posters for myself and the Avatar, it is best if we remain out here."

Yue ran to Sokka and kissed him on the lips before he and Toph left to check out the town.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko had been hired as a farm worker and Katara had been hired to help with cooking an house chores. It was a huge plantation and it took many laborers. Kenji was a kind man who treated his workers well and paid them fair wages. He also had children and grandchildren who worked for him. It was the biggest farm for miles in any direction and he sold a lot of produce to local vendors who then sold to this town and the surrounding ones. Katara, Kenji's wife and several of the female grandchildren had prepared a hearty lunch for the workers. She had been overjoyed at the opportunity to see Zuko again and she had sat next to him at lunch with his left arm wrapped around her the entire time they ate. They couldn't get enough of the other's closeness. But eventually they had to go their separate ways to complete the day's work.

At sundown work ended and Zuko walked quickly up to the farmhouse to meet Katara. He was tired from the day's work, hauling hay around, harvesting the crops, feeding the animals and repairing barns. He was ready to rest and take a much needed bath in whatever body of water he could find. The pond would do quite nicely, Kenji had also informed him that he could rent out a room in the farmhouse and Zuko had decided to take it into consideration. However he had one other thing he had to do before it got too late.

"Katara," Zuko called as he entered the house.

"Coming," he heard her entering the back door. He looked over to see his beautiful Waterbender carrying a basket of eggs into the house through the back door. His smile instantly gave away how excited he was to see her and Kenji's wife appeared in the doorframe to the kitchen as Katara smiled back at him.

"She's talked about you all day you know?"

"Has she?" he asked not taking his eyes off of Katara for a second as he watched her swaying hips as she walked with the egg basket on one hip.

"Ah, young love." The woman turned and thanked Katara for her help.

"I will see you tomorrow," Katara replied before walking toward Zuko. Her hair was braided and laying over her shoulder. She was wearing her green earth kingdom dress with long sleeves and dark green leggings and boots. As always her mother's necklace hung around her neck. Zuko reached out and touched it lightly before touching her face.

"Ready to go?"

She nodded. He took her hand and they went to collect the ostrich horse and their other things.

He lifted her onto the saddle and climbed up behind her.

"I have one more stop to make."

He led the horse to the earth kingdom army barracks and dismounted.

Katara watched as he went and talked to someone who then led him to another man who seemed to have some authority position. She watched as Zuko spoke with the man. After a moment he and Zuko bowed to each other, apparently reaching some agreement.

Zuko walked back to the ostrich horse and climbed up behind Katara. "I have another source of income."

She gasped thinking he had joined the earth kingdom army.

"I have been hired to teach sword fighting to the soldiers."

She visibly relaxed hearing this. She was afraid of having him sent away. She didn't want to think about it. She was so relieved.

He pulled her close. "Let's go make camp."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Toph ventured into the town. The first thing Sokka noticed was the huge walls that surrounded the city. When they went towards the market he noticed all the guards standing around. They weren't Fire Nation so he assumed they were just there to keep the peace. Still it seemed like over kill to him. With no sign of Fire Nation soldiers or occupation they returned to the others to inform them that the coast was clear.

They left a message for Zuko and Katara nailed to a tree, rolled up, a tactic for communication that they had discussed before the other two headed out. They all went into the town somewhat expecting Aang to have a warm welcome due to the lack of Fire Nation presence. No one however seemed to pay the boy any attention. Yue on the other hand felt as if she were being gawked at. It wasn't just men who gawked at her. It was everyone Sokka noted. First he thought it might be her peculiar white hair. Sokka pulled her closer and she gladly entered his embrace as they walked down the street.

"Something is not right here," Iroh commented. "Where are all the young ladies?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko and Katara went outside the town to make camp. It seemed to be a safe town but Zuko took no chances as he laid his twin swords on the ground next to the stacked sleeping bags. Katara was bathing in a small stream a short ways away and had insisted on privacy as she was wanting to take a complete bath with the soap she had been given today. She also was given some herbs to wash her hair with. She washed her clothes as well from the day. She bended the water off of herself and her clothing and put her undergarments back on. She folded her clothes from the day and took them back with her to camp. Zuko was lying on his back looking up at the stars and she quickly grabbed her bag off the ostrich horse and began going through it. Zuko heard her and stood to walk over to her.

"Here is the soap I got today," she said as she handed it to him. He nodded.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked playfully.

She blushed and looked up. "Looking for clothes," She replied. He shook his head.

"I like what you're wearing now."

"Oh Zuko," she sighed. She pointed to the river to get him to go on and take his bath and leave her be.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

She continued looking through her bag and finally found what she was looking for.

"Ah! Found you!" She pulled out the navy dress she had gotten at the North Pole form Yue. This one had spaghetti straps and was a fairly simple dress. It had a sweetheart top and a slit that went up the left side. She decided not to put on any shoes. She really just wanted something comfy to sleep in and she thought this was probably her best bet. Katara started brushing her hair and suddenly she felt hands on her arms. She gasped and turned around to defend herself. She drew the brush back to hit whomever had grabbed her when she realized it was Zuko.

"Leave it down."

She relaxed and looked at him quizzically.

"Leave your hair down. I like it this way," he said as he ran his fingers through it. "Sorry I scared you." Then he held her at arms-length to look at her dress. He smiled at her. _He never smiles. He must really like it._ He touched her mother's necklace again.

"You are so beautiful. Tell me why this is so important. Why were you so sad when I had it?"

"You mean when you used it to try and get me to sell Aang out?" she asked giggling.

His head dropped and she placed a hand on the side of his face. "I'm sorry," they said in unison. Zuko lifted her up into his arms bridal style and carried her to where their sleeping bags were. He sat her down and then sat down next to her, pulling her into his embrace.

"This necklace was my grandmothers; then she passed it down to my mother who gave it to me not long before she was killed by the Fire Nation. It's all I have left of her besides memories."

Zuko said nothing but continued holding her tightly. He was thinking about the loss of his own mother and how he wished he had been stronger back then, wished he had known and maybe just maybe he could have done something.

She looked up at him to see that he was thinking about something. She placed a hand on his cheek.

"Zuko?" she asked so softly he could barely hear it. "What are you thinking about? You can talk to me if you want."

He shook his head and opened the sleeping bag and slid down into it.

"Care to join me?" he asked smirking at her and holding out his arms to receive her into his embrace. She nodded and slid into the sleeping bag. He pulled her close and zipped it up behind her back. There was almost no extra room with the two of them sharing a sleeping bag. _Sokka would have a cow._ Katara thought as she felt Zuko's hands on her stomach. They slid around her body to her back. He breathed in the scent of her hair as her hands explored his muscular chest. Zuko smirked at her as his hands slid down to grab her butt, and he quickly turned over on his back causing her to end up lying on top of him. He was lying there smirking at her as she looked down at him.

"Sokka would die if he caught us like this."

"Good thing he didn't see last night." Zuko smirked. Katara blushed remembering sleeping in only her underclothes.

She was looking down at him with those big blue eves again. "You're so beautiful Tara."

She leaned down to kiss him softly but was surprised as one of his hands left her butt and grabbed her arm fiercely pulling her down so that their lips met. He kissed her passionately and brought his other hand up to her other arm. He pulled her down forcefully into his kiss, but she didn't mind a bit as she kissed him back passionately.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As they searched for a place to stay for the night, they learned some very peculiar news. No one they had spoken to had heard of the Avatar or the war for that matter. It was bizarre to say the least, and as Iroh had pointed out, they still hadn't seen young women. It was strange. They walked the street seeing little boys run and play and a few little girls. There were teenage boys and young men working everywhere and plenty of middle aged people of both genders. But they had all looked at Yue in a peculiar way and that was when Iroh noticed that there were no other girls her age. There were a handful Toph's age and younger so she hadn't drawn the attention that Yue had. Perhaps there was some local custom that prohibited young women from going out in public, Yue had mused to herself.

The gaang had wandered around the town and managed to find a woman who would allow them to stay at her house for the night. She had a barn where Appa had been allowed to stay and Momo rode on Yue's shoulder. The woman led them into her house.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind my asking, you see we are traveling and we aren't familiar with local customs, why was everyone staring at my girlfriend, and where are all the teenage girls?"

The woman held a finger to her lips, and motioned for them to follow her upstairs. When they were all upstairs in what seemed to be an extra bedroom in the center of the house she spoke.

"You should not have come; you see, once you enter this city, you never leave."

"Why not? I'm the Avatar. . . ."

"That doesn't matter . . . she has guards everywhere."

"Who does?"

"Queen Báthory."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Ok, a few things. First, I finally stopped having writer's block! Yay! I have a plot now, a good one, too. You will like it. Plus more updates sooner!**

**Second. I know Toph is blind and y'all are probably thinking "Why send the blind girl to **_**look**_** for Fire Nation soldiers." Well she is really there just to back Sokka in case he finds any. Toph kicks Fire Nation butt. So Sokka does the looking and she does the fighting if he finds any.**

**Third. I am a HUGE history nerd. So how many of you are too? If you are a big enough history nerd, give me a review and tell me if you've caught on to what's going on with the ganng.**

**Finally. Please review. Yes Zuko and Katara will get worked in to the new plot. I hope you like the fluffs. Review and let me know.**

**Review. Pretty please!**

**-engineergirl86**


	14. Blood

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"_You should not have come; you see, once you enter this city, you never leave."_

"_Why not? I'm the Avatar. . . ."_

"_That doesn't matter . . . she has guards everywhere."_

"_Who does?"_

"_Queen __Báthory."_

"Who is Queen Báthory?" Toph asked.

"The Queen of this city, she rules us harshly. She has guards everywhere, no one is ever allowed to leave. Our lives are to serve her."

"But, surely someone has left," Yue commented.

"No, not for the past thirty years of her reign; you see thirty five years ago the young princess Elizabeth Báthory inherited the throne. Her parents died of a plague that killed half of our city. It ran its course and thankfully there have not been any cases since. She inherited the throne at the young age of sixteen. She was considered the most beautiful girl in the entire Earth Kingdom by us, her subjects. Five years in to her rule she was to be wed to the love of her life. However, she learned that the night before her wedding, he was unfaithful to her. Her guards caught him in the catacombs of the palace with another girl. She was heart-broken and angry. She had the two brought before her throne and when she saw the girl, she was filled with envy and jealousy. The maiden was of the Water tribes. She had beautiful tanned skin and blue eyes. She looked much like you, but her hair was brown. When asked why he had been unfaithful the man refused to reply. The guards began to beat him until he gave a truthful answer. He finally relented and looked upon his betrothed. 'I had never seen a woman so beautiful in all my life. I am sorry Elizabeth.' Sorry didn't do it for the queen. The two were executed immediately and Elizabeth Báthory became obsessed with beauty and set out to be the most beautiful woman in the entire kingdom. She took it to the extreme, never believing herself lovely enough, she is obsessed with the spirit Koh and his face stealing abilities. It is said that the two have formed an evil friendship. After the events of her betrayal Queen Báthory refused for anyone to leave the city. She strengthened the numbers of her personal guard. After a few weeks young women began disappearing. She doesn't have the ability to steal faces like her favorite spirit. Instead . . . it is rumored that she . . . she . . . kills young beautiful maidens to . . . bathe in their blood. She believes it will give her youth and beauty. She is believed to have done this for the past thirty years."

"We've got to get out of here," Sokka said looking at Aang and Iroh as he pulled a clearly disturbed Yue into his arms. She laid her head on his chest.

"We have to keep Yue and Toph out of sight until we can figure a way out," Aang said.

"The younger girl should be okay. She usually won't take girls as young as her," the woman said gesturing to Toph. "Though she is very pretty, were she a few years older you would have much reason for concern. The Water Tribe girl however, must be kept out of sight at all times."

"Wait, why are you still alive? How did you make it?" Sokka asked.

"Ah, my parents were quite clever. They always made attempts to cause me to be uglier. It's a strange notion I'm sure, but here it is desirable to be an ugly girl and live. They were also quite careful about hiding me. Though occasionally the guards will cull the city and there is no hiding. My cousin . . . well I'm sure you can imagine."

"But no one has escaped?" Iroh asked.

"Not one. Many have tried. Her personal guard is very powerful. Many died attempting escape. People are always welcome into the city though we have few visitors due to our remote location. More people means more opportunities for beautiful girls such as you," she gestured to Yue "to arrive."

"But what about the fathers and brothers and boyfriends of the city? Would they not revolt?"

"They have on many occasion. You forget, she has a very powerful ally in Koh and she has many, many guards. The Spirit Koh often visits this place from the Spirit world. Are you familiar with him?"

"All too well," Aang mumbled.

"What about Katara when she and Zuko come to find us? We have to get out for Yue's sake and to keep Katara from coming here also," Aang thought out loud. "Could we send Momo out with a message for Katara and Zuko not to come? Would he be able to get away?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Katara woke up the next morning with her head on Zuko's chest and his arm wrapped tightly around her. It wasn't quite dawn yet, but she knew it wasn't too far off. Soon they would have enough money to take to Aang and the others for food. She stretched a bit and laid her head back down on Zuko's chest. He would be awake in a few minutes. He always rose with the sun, every morning, right at dawn. She assumed her early rise was due to the full moon energizing her. She looked up at it and knew it would soon vanish behind the tree line completely, making room for its day time opposite. She drifted back asleep with thoughts of her brother and friends, hoping they were doing well.

As the sun rose, Zuko yawned and sat up, pulling a groggy Katara with him.

"I am going to go down to the river to meditate and Fire Bend before I have to report for sword training at the barracks."

She nodded. "I will fix us breakfast and after we eat maybe I can get in a bit of Waterbending."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka, Yue and the gaang had finally gotten to sleep late in the night in the cellar of the old woman's house. Sokka had held Yue close to him the entire night, refusing to allow her to be taken. He wrapped her tightly in his embrace and slept with his back to the door, so if someone did come in in the middle of the night, they wouldn't see her immediately. Hopefully it would give him the time he needed to grab his weapons and kick them into next Tuesday.

A little after dawn Aang woke up, hoping the day before had been nothing but a bad dream. He hurried over to Sokka and Yue and shook them awake. At first Sokka pulled Yue closer as if to protect her then he realized it was Aang. He let go of her and sat up. Across the room Iroh was snoring, or was that Toph, Aang glanced to the other side of the room. No it was both of them. He sighed and looked back at Sokka.

"We've got to try and get out of here Sokka. Do you have any plans?"

"First I think we should send Momo out with a message for Zuko and Katara not to come in case something goes wrong. Then we sneak out the back. Maybe they have to have a water source somewhere or maybe a way to get trash out of the city. It has to be possible. And if all else fails you're the Avatar and we have a master Earthbender and Firebender with us. I think we will be okay. We should do it this morning too. Security is probably tighter during the night. We need to find out what time breakfast normally is and so it while they are distracted."

Aang nodded. "Do you really think Zuko and Katara will stay away?" he asked.

"Probably not. Maybe Zuko will come and leave her somewhere safe. I don't think he would bring her into this. She'll wanna come and help, but hopefully she won't come."

"We should run it by the others," Yue said.

"It's fool proof. I've been working on it all night," Sokka smirked. She shot him a look.

"I don't know Sokka, Koh is really powerful."

"Yes, I have met him before," Iroh said as he joined them. Apparently he woke up and heard their conversation.

Sokka threw a shoe at Toph to wake her up so they could all talk.

"Hey!" she woke up and chucked the shoe back at Sokka.

"Toph! Get over here. We are plotting," Sokka whisper yelled. The young Earthbender grumbled and joined them.

"What happens if we get caught and Koh and the guard-who I am sure are Earthbenders and good ones at that-defeat us? Yue will surely be captured by the queen. Is that a risk you are willing to take?" Iroh asked Aang and Sokka.

"I am," Yue stated firmly. "You all need to be saving the world, not worrying about me. You have to try and escape."

"No! That's not an option," Sokka responded. "We aren't going to risk you're life."

"What if a few of us tried to escape and get help from another town?" Aang asked.

"Or," Iroh started, "What if we were to lure the Fire Nation Army right here and have them take each other out?"

"We wouldn't have to! We could send Momo with a note to Zuko and Katara and they could lure the Fire Nation here and in the midst of the battle we could all escape! Haha! Briliant!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Come here Momo," Sokka said with a glint in his eye.

Momo ran and hid behind Iroh.

"You're scaring him Sokka!" Yue scolded before she took the tiny creature in her arms and petted him.

"Momo," Aang said, "We need you to give this to Katara." He spoke slowly trying to convey what he needed the animal to do as he tied the message Sokka wrote down to his arm. He remembered all too well Katara's story of trying to get Momo to bring water when she and Sokka were sick and he was captured by Zhao. The thought scared him and he hoped desperately that this would work.

. . . . . . . . . . .

After eating breakfast with the food Katara had bought with part of yesterday's wages she and Zuko practiced their bending together then rode into town. Katara wore the green dress she had worn the day before. She was glad she had taken the time to wash it. It felt very refreshing. Zuko dropped her by the farm house and left for the barracks. He was to train soldiers in sword fighting until seven and then go to do his farm work. That was about an hour. At dusk he would come back for two more hours of swordsmanship training.

Zuko was surprised to find that he quite enjoyed training the Earth Kingdom soldiers to swordfight. Some of them were beginners and some of them had already learned some about sword fighting. No of them however were at the level Zuko was. He made them work hard for it just as he had. He wasn't lenient, but they were accepting to the hard work because he trained and sparred right along with them. He was actually sad for a moment when it was time for him to go then he remembered he would see Katara at the farm.

At the farm Katara and other girls worked hard preparing lunch for the workers. She also went and fed the chickens and collected eggs again. She had begun to make friends with the girls she worked with and she found that they were much like her. They had never had a lot of wealth but they had a strong family bond. She could relate to that. Her mind drifted to Zuko and how different his life was. He had had all the material possessions he wanted until recently, but it had been nothing compared to the love of a father that Katara was so blessed with. Even with all his wealth, Zuko's life had been harder than hers. They had both lost their mothers and that was terribly hard, but to know your father didn't want you after losing your mother . . . Katara couldn't imagine.

In no time it was lunch and she spotted Zuko coming in to the large dining room and hurried to him. He was covered in dirt from working, but she didn't care. He pulled her in to a warm embrace and kissed her cheek. They sat at the table together and enjoyed the sheep pork that had been prepared as well as green beans and mashed potatoes. Fluffy rolls Katara had prepared herself were at the center of the table and she grabbed one to hand to Zuko.

"Try it!" she insisted.

"Did you fix these?" he asked.

She nodded in response as he bit into the roll. It was gone in no time and he reached for another. He was hungry after the day's work thus far.

"They are delicious." Zuko enjoyed the simplicity of life outside of the palace. He had never thought about it until he met Katara and lately, he realized how much he hated the stupid ritualistic ways of palace life. But he still wanted to be Fire Lord. He was a born leader and after they defeated Ozai and his Uncle took his rightful place as Fire Lord, Zuko hoped he would name him his heir. He knew it was his destiny to right his father's wrongs. He wanted to lead the Fire Nation into a new path that he knew his Uncle would start them down. They just had to win this war.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yue had stayed inside as Sokka had instructed. He and Aang went to the roof of the house with Momo. The woman in whose house they were residing, Donna, had warned them that it wouldn't work, but the boys insisted on making an attempt.

"Okay Momo, go to Katara." Aang repeated. Sokka was watching the guards on the walls and when they all seemed to be looking another way Sokka said "Now." Aang tossed Momo up to encourage him to fly, and fly he did. They watched as Momo headed up and out toward the wall of the city. Then, just when they thought they had sneaked Momo out, Aang spotted an arrow hurtling towards the lemur.

"No!" Aang yelled and Airbended to push Momo out of the way, but the lemur was too far away and Aang and Sokka watched in horror as the arrow sliced through the webbing in Momo's arm causing him to fall into a tree near the wall of the city. Aang sprinted down the stairs and into the street with Sokka on his heels. He had to help poor Momo.

But when they got to where he had fallen, he was gone.

"Where-" Aang began. Sokka started climbing the tree to see if Momo got hung up in it.

"He's not up here either."

"Momo!" Aang yelled, hoping to hear the little's lemur's chirps. They looked around for a long while with no avail.

"You don't think they-?"

"I don't know Aang," Sokka replied bleakly.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

**Elizabeth Báthory is the Blood Countess. Look it up if you're interested. I love history. And no I didn't stick with her story, I changed it up to fit mine.**

**Please review. I feel like my fic is turning into a mystery/suspense sort of thing which suits me fine. I hope y'all like it! Sorry for the lack of Zutara or fluff in this chap. Don't worry I love fluffs and more will come!**

**Please review and let me know what you think. Guess what is going to happen next or say what you hope happens next. Reviews drive me to update more often.**


	15. Our Future

**Warning. Things may get a little Taangy in this chappy. So enjoy if you like that sort of thing and if not, well it's pretty short. Lots of Yukka and Zutara too! And I promise Zuko and Katara will join the major plot of the story pretty soon. So hang on and enjoy the ride. I hope you like my plot **

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"You can stay here and I will return for you in a couple hours." It was dusk and the day's work at the farm was over. Zuko pulled Katara close and kissed her before climbing on the ostrich horse and leaving for the barracks to continue training the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

Katara went back into the house and sat with some of the other girls who were done working.

"He's so handsome! You're very lucky," a girl told Katara. Katara blushed thinking of how right they were. Zuko was_ very handsome._ She talked with the girls and rested after a day of work while she waited for Zuko to return for her. She knew he didn't want her at their camp alone. He was very protective over her despite the fact that she was a master Waterbender.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Aang had returned after hours of searching for Momo. Yue had cried upon hearing the news. Sokka pulled her into his arms and tried to soothe her.

"All hope seems lost," she moaned.

"We must figure a way out of here," Iroh stated.

"Maybe several of us should try," Toph added in. "You know, like we said before."

"We can't leave without Momo!" Aang declared.

"I agree with Toph. Some of us need to escape while the others look for Momo. I will stay here with Yue. Aang, you and Iroh and Toph should try to get out of here. You three will have no problem leading the Fire Nation here and Yue and I will stay hidden. You're powerful benders and you three working together have the best chance of escape in case something does happen and they discover you. I will keep looking for Momo. You've gotta warn Zuko and Katara, too." Sokka continued holding Yue tightly to his chest to comfort her as she cried softly.

Suddenly their planning was interrupted by the hurried footsteps of Donna entering the cellar where they stayed.

"You have to get moving! There is a cull tonight!" Sokka held Yue tighter. She had stopped crying and had a look of determination on her face.

"Let's go," she said to him. Donna gave her a cloak to put on so maybe she wouldn't be so noticeable. She had an extra and Sokka took it.

The queen would take special pleasure in killing Yue due to her Water Tribe heritage.

They snuck out the back and saw guards combing the streets and entering houses. Sokka pulled Yue against his chest again. "We should split up so we are less noticeable."

"Agreed," Iroh responded. "We will attempt escape at breakfast time tomorrow morning. Keep her safe. Good luck."

"Warn my sister and keep her away." Both parties nodded in understanding and went their separate ways.

Sokka pulled Yue along by the hand down an ally way. Suddenly he heard footsteps and pulled her into a crevice shielding her body from sight with his own. Their black cloaks were quite useful in the dark and the guard walked on by them. After a moment Sokka peeked out noting that the coast was clear. They continued down the ally and heard screams as guards entered a home. Yue gasped and Sokka looked at her apologetically. Wishing there was something he could do for the girl who just got captured. Sokka saw a ladder up the back of a building and motioned for Yue to climb up it. The top of a building would be as good a lookout point as any. Yue climbed up the ladder with Sokka right behind her. Her hands were shaking already in fear and anticipation and she was moving slowly. Sokka tried to coax her to go faster up the ladder when he heard boots clomping on the stone roads and two guards turned the corner. One chanced a look up just as Sokka had been hoping he wouldn't. He unsheathed his boomerang and sent it soaring toward the confused man. Apparently he wasn't familiar with Water Tribe weapons, a deficiency Sokka fully intended to correct.

The boomerang smacked him in the head knocking him to his feet before returning to its mater. The other guard looked up when he saw what happened to his companion and started to yell for backup.

"Not good!" Sokka said as he threw his boomerang again. The guard managed to dodge its first pass.

"Ha! Missed me with your pathetic toy- ughh."

It hit him in the back of the head on the way back up to Sokka. Yue was yet again climbing up the tall ladder with shaking hands. Suddenly she slipped and fell, but managed not to scream on her short decent. Sokka caught her between himself and the ladder, and held onto her around the waist with his right arm. She opened her eyes and two sets of blue eyes met.

"I'll never let you fall," he vowed to her. They finished the climb up to the roof top before more guards rounded the corner to respond to the yells and see their fallen comrades. Thankfully the buildings were close to each other. Sokka kicked in the door on the roof of the building they were on and laid it out as a bridge to the next building over.

"Hurry Sokka! I hear them coming."

They rushed across the door bridge right as the guards topped the ladder and began shooting arrows at them. Sokka pulled the door up as a shield and to keep the men from following them without having to jump. It was a six foot gap, five stories up. Though Sokka was pretty sure they could make the jump, he didn't think they would want to risk it. He and Yue hurried on to the next gap. As they crossed they heard the thud of boots landing on the roof top.

"Oh bad bad bad." They rushed over the makeshift bridge and Sokka saw an open window in the next building.

"We have to jump into that window Yue. They will catch us at this rate."

They ran to the edge of the building and leapt toward the window just as arrows whizzed by their heads. Sokka tucked Yue into his arms and rolled to absorb the impact with the floor. They were on their feet in seconds and running through someone's house. Sokka found the way to the cellar as they passed a screaming woman holding a small child.

"Sorry!" Yue yelled as they ran past them.

"I hope we lost them," Sokka said as they entered the cellar. He found what he was looking for in the hatch that lead into the catacombs of the city. No doubt there would be lots of guards there, but the first priority was to shake the ones who were on their tails.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Iroh, Aang, and Toph didn't have to run and hide. They had simply walked into the streets. They wanted to keep from seeming suspicious, nothing could ruin their plans for tomorrow morning. Everything relied upon their success. They made their way toward the city dump casually inspecting the process of removing trash from the city. The dump was on the back wall and guards combed through all the trash with rakes. It was then loaded onto carts with ostrich horses drawing them. The wall had a small hole in it. Large enough for a single cart and horse to pass through, and one did about once per hour. They watched as the guards inspected each cart before letting it pass through the hole.

After studying the pattern for several hours the three left to try and find a place to sleep for the night, desperately hoping that the nightmarish cull had ended and Sokka and Yue had been able to evade capture.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

After two hours of intense training and sparring, Zuko was tired, especially after a long hard day of work. He had sparred with hid men for over an hour after teaching them specific moves and stances. He was a firm believer in sparring being the best form of practice for any fighting discipline, be it bending, hand to hand combat or the use of a weapon, and Zuko loved every moment of it. Sword fighting was a rush and he was competitive, he loved to win. Though in this particular situation it was not difficult to do so, nor was it the purpose. As men attacked him he would instruct them and improve their fighting style. And when they did well he would come off the defensive and attack back. He had them spar with one another also, in pairs according to their skill levels which were highly variable.

The commanding officer paid him just as Kenji had and he bowed his head in thanks before mounting the ostrich horse and leaving to collect Katara. He arrived at the farm house and dismounted as she ran to him. He caught her and lifted her into the air and lowered her to where his arms were wrapped around her hips and her head was slightly higher than his. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he began to kiss her.

"Mmmmm I missed you." His voice was deep and velvety and she felt herself blush as they continued kissing. He turned as they continued kissing and lifted her by the hips up onto the ostrich horse as she bent down, neither willing to break away from the kiss. Finally she backed away and he climbed up behind her.

"Because neither of us have to work tomorrow, I thought we could bring some money and food back to the others," Zuko said and Katara nodded. She was glad she would be seeing the others, but she really had enjoyed her alone time with Zuko. But it would start again soon enough. Both of them had Wednesdays and Sundays off. Today was Tuesday, and the ostrich horse had rested all day. It was a pleasant clear night and they could make good time heading back to the gaang.

As they rode Katara's mind wandered. It was hard not to do because Zuko was always so quiet. It was inevitable that she and Zuko wouldn't be able to be together forever and the thought of it was almost more than she could bear. If they survived the upcoming battles to win the war, which was questionable, Zuko would have to go back to the Fire Nation and do his duties as Prince again and eventually she believed that Iroh would want to pass the throne on to his nephew, as the old man had no living heirs. She was a Water Tribe girl. There was no way the Fire Nation would accept her as Fire Lady. Heck there was no way her father or Sokka would accept it either. Maybe if they lost the war and survived all the battles and avoided capture they could be together. As soon as the thought crossed her mind she instantly became infuriated with herself. How selfish! Losing the war would further devastate the world. After all her Tribe had gone through how could she think such a horrid thought. She had been the one to tell Zuko that forgetting the war was wrong in the first place. Their destinies were intertwined in the destiny of the Avatar and the entire world. She sighed and leaned back against Zuko's chest. She would just have to enjoy it while it lasted. Perhaps they were like Oma and Shu, destined for a tragic end. A single tear fell from her eye and plummeted down to Zuko's hand that was wrapped around her waist, holding her close.

Zuko felt her lean into him closer and he had dismissed it as her being cold and tired, but when he felt a tear land on his hand he knew something was wrong.

"Tara," he said in his deep smooth vice, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing I'm fine," she sniffled.

"You're crying."

"I'm . . . I . . . I'm fine Zuko."

"Tara, look at me."

She didn't dare turn around, or he would see all the other tears in her eyes threatening to fall like the first one that she had let escape. She should have bended it so it didn't land on his hand, but the thought hadn't crossed her mind at the time.

"Tara, please, tell me what's hurting you so I can make it go away."

She felt his strong hand on her arm turning her to face him. The ostrich horse had come to a stop when Zuko let the reins fall against its neck. Zuko turned her around, but she kept her head down. He gently placed a hand under her chin and lifted her face to see tears streaming down both of her mocha cheeks. He cupped her face and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. When more fell he began to kiss them away and in turn she began to cry more. Why was he so bad at comforting her?

When he had kissed her tears away Katara thought about how they would have to stop sharing these tender moments and the thought only brought more tears at a faster rate.

"Tara, please tell me," he said with genuine concern filling his face. She buried her face in his shoulder and neck and continued crying and clinging to him. He wrapped his arms around her for a brief moment before firmly pulling her back to where he could see her face.

"Tell me now what is bothering you. I will kill it and you will never have to worry again my beautiful water angel."

"You will have to go back to the Fire Nation and we won't get to be together anymore. I'm such a selfish horrible person." She looked down and fought off the tears as she felt him lift her chin again. She looked into his golden eyes. They looked like his native element and burned with passion.

"Tara," he said as his hand slid up her face to wipe away tears, a smile spread over his face. This was what was bothering her? He fully intended to set it straight. "I intend to bring you with me to the Fire Nation. I told you before I would do whatever it took to have you. Do you think I would give you up so easily?"

"I thought . . . I thought you wouldn't want me anymore, or at least I wouldn't be worth the trouble." She looked down.

"Not worth the trouble? Katara . . . you're worth everything to me. I will never give you up. I love you Katara." He said the last part fiercely as he pulled her closer by her arms. Her eyes were wide in surprise. She had never had a boy profess his love for her before. She felt light and weak and she knew she was blushing. She was glad he was holding her up, otherwise she might have fell off the ostrich horse.

"I love you too Zuko," she breathed and he closed the small distance between their lips to kiss her firmly as if sealing the professions they had just made. His kiss was firm, but passionate and loving. It was strong like him and showed the passion and hunger he had for her.

She had just told him she loved him, she hadn't thought about it before, but it was definitely true. She had realized it when she heard him utter those three words.

Finally they broke apart to breathe and he looked into her eyes. "Was it too soon for me to tell you?" She shook her head.

"Katara, when we win the war things will be different. I want you to go home to the Fire Nation with me. I want to make you my wife one day. Things will be better with Uncle as Fire Lord."

"And then you will be Fire Lord Zuko and they will never accept a Water Tribe peasant as Fire Lady."

"Things will be different. I will be Fire Lord and I can have whomever I please as my Queen and I choose you. Uncle will be on my side in this as well. I promise Katara I am not just going to get rid of you. I want you at my side forever. I want you to bare my children Katara!"

She knew she was blushing hard at that comment, but he didn't waver. He looked determined and resolute about it. He held her arms just below the shoulders and studied her face for a reaction.

After letting all of it soak in Katara slowly began nodding her head and Zuko pulled her against his chest and hugged her closely.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue hurried through the catacombs of the city sneaking around in the darkness and taking advantage of the various rooms. It appeared they had lost the guards who had been chasing them, but they could never be too sure. Sokka had hoped the woman whose house they ran through had sent the guards the wrong way. Suddenly he heard more guards' footsteps. They were currently hiding behind a bookshelf filled with old records and Sokka pulled them apart to peek through. The guards were checking through the record room thoroughly. There was one door and if they didn't act quickly the guards would make their way back to them.

The Water Tribe warrior pulled out his boomerang and silently swung it to the other side of the room. The guards predictably headed for the sound and they took the opportunity to stealthily run out. They ran down the hall of the catacombs and into another room that was labeled as being under a shop. Sokka took out his machete and hacked the locked wooden trap door.

"Sokka they are coming," Yue said as she turned from peeking out the door.

"There are _way _too many guards in these catacombs." He continued hacking the lock and finally it fell open. Sokka grabbed Yue and picked her up into the hole in the ceiling. She sat down on the floor of the shop and moved for Sokka to jump up. Once in the shop he tied the trap door closed so the guards wouldn't notice a suspiciously open door.

Yue looked around at the shop. "I think we are safe, but we are definitely trespassing."

"We'll worry with that tomorrow," Sokka said as he took her hands. "You're safe for the moment and that's all that matters to me." He leaned down and kissed her.

Once the kiss broke, Yue cupped Sokka's cheek, "Thank you for keeping me safe Sokka."

He nodded. "We'll just hope it lasts till morning. Get some rest. I'll keep watch."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Iroh, Toph and Aang were able to find a place to stay with an older retired couple. They sat in the extra room and discussed their plan of escape.

"So," Aang began, "yeah, I got nothing. I wish Sokka were here. He always comes up with the best plans.

"Me too," Toph groaned. "I still think we can take them, though," she said smashing her fist into her other hand.

"I have an idea, listen carefully. . ."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Oops. Didn't quite make it to the Taang stuff. Sorry it and the escape plan will be first thing in the next chap. Anyways. I will try and update soon. This chap was super fluffy I hope you liked it. I know the whole Zutara post war angst stuff is over done so I didn't want to beat a dead horse so to speak but I felt like it needed to be addressed so I made it as cute and fluffy as I could. Okay please review.**

**Reviews make me happy. Pretty please! They also inspire me to update sooner!**


	16. Escape Plans

**Yay! Awesome reviews! Thanks guys! And Yes Zuko is not afraid to tell it like it is. I felt like "I want you to bare my children Katara!" would be something he would say if Zutara happened just because Zuko is so straight forward, no b.s., what you see is what you get. And he can be a bit shall we say . . . socially awkward at times. "Zuko here!" lol I laughed so hard I cried the first time I saw that. Like actual tears. Okay I'm getting off track, more plot development, and as promised, some mild Taang in this chappy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.**

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Early the next morning Toph Aang and Iroh went found a cart in the city and requested to borrow it from the owner. After Iroh gave them his rare white lotus tile as collateral in case they failed to return the cart the owner quickly agreed. Now they needed to find some large rocks. After a short while they were able to find some behind an abandoned building. Toph followed Iroh's instruction and quickly bent them into the shape of a short artistic column that people often sat flower vases on. She knocked some chunks out of it to make it look old and beat up, then skillfully split it perfectly in half, before working to hollow out each half of the column pedestal.

"Why a pedestal?" Aang asked Iroh as Toph worked.

" Because, young Avatar, another type of furniture would not do. Were we to use a cabinet, they would check each drawer. Plus we needed something commonly made of stone so as not to rouse their suspicions."

Aang nodded as Toph finished up.

"You sure there's no other way?" she asked Iroh as she sighed.

"This is the best plan I could come up with."

"Great. Stuck in a rock with Twinkle Toes for several hours."

"Is there no way you could come with us?" Aang asked.

"No," Iroh responded. "Someone has to deliver you to the dump. Plus it would take a very large pedestal for me to fit inside as well." They put the two halves of the pedestal in the cart. "Now in you go."

Toph sighed and climbed into the cart and got in her half of the hallowed out pedestal. Aang did likewise and Toph sighed and grumbled one more time before bending the two halves together and sealing the two twelve year olds inside. She punched an air hole in the top so they could breathe. They were completely smushed into the confined space.

"Twinkle Toes, chill. Your pulse is racing. It's already hot in here we don't need your sweat to add to it," Toph complained as they felt the cart lurch into motion. Along the way Iroh found more trash to add to his cart so it wouldn't look suspicious.

The two young benders' faces were pressed together in the small space and Aang had felt his heart rate leap and apparently Toph had felt it too. He could also feel the blush on his cheeks. He tried to move one of his arms which ended up behind her head tangled in her hair.

"Ouch!" She jabbed him in the stomach.

"Oww! What was that for?"

"You pulled my hair!"

"I didn't mean to!" Both benders tried to adjust their position and ended up with their faces pressed together and lips almost touching. Toph felt her cheeks burning, so she did the first thing she could think of.

"Good grief Twinkle Toes! Don't have a heart attack. Your heart rate is through the roof again."

"Shhhhh!" They heard Iroh outside shushing them. If they weren't quiet this whole thing would be pointless.

Iroh pulled up to the dump site and opened the back of the cart, rolling out the pedestal and the other trash. Toph felt dizzy as she rolled out. Thankfully they landed in a pile of trash so it hadn't been a hard impact with the ground. Aang silently thanked Iroh for that.

"Hmmm, hm, hmmmm, hm." They heard Iroh hum casually as the listened to him get back into the cart. He was going to return it then hide so he could watch Aang and Toph escape the city. Hopefully it would go off without a hitch and they would all be able to get out of here in a matter of days.

Aang was totally blind to what was going on around them, but Toph could _see _everything perfectly from their stone casing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"What! You lost her? You know the penalty for such actions Lieutenant. You also know of my hatred for the Water Tribes."

"Your majesty, it was only a rumor amongst the troops that a Water Tribe girl had entered our city. Last night we were able to confirm the rumor."

"But then you lost her."

"She was with a warrior your highness. He seemed quite skilled in evasion and they escaped us. Allow me to redouble our efforts to find the girl. She won't escape again."

"She better not Lieutenant, or it will be your head."

"Yes your highness."

"Koh will be visiting us today. Make sure the servants prepare his chambers, and remind them to show no emotion while they are in his presence or we may have another incident like last time."

The Lieutenant remembered all too well the servant whose face had been stolen during the Spirit's last visit to their city. "Yes your highness."

"You are dismissed."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue peeked out the window as the sun rose. They had to get out of here before the shop owners arrived for the days' work or else they may just report them for trespassing, and that would be detrimental to their keeping a low profile.

"We have to get out of here. I think the catacombs is a bad idea, so let's try the roof."

Yue nodded and she and Sokka hurried up the stairs. They reached the door to the roof and Sokka opened it and peeked out. He scanned the surrounding rooftops an when he saw that the coast was clear he stepped out, but kept low as Yue copied him movements. She closed the door and they snuck to the side of the building seeking a ladder or some way to cross to the next building without destroying the door to use as a bridge. Stealth was the key here, and Sokka silently envied Zuko for his mastery of it. There were no ladders and the closest building was at least a five foot jump. Sokka knew he could make the jump with ease, but Yue he was concerned about.

"Can you make that jump?"

"I don't know," she said looking down at the gap between the buildings. It was a long way down if she didn't make it.

"Run and jump as far as you can on this roof and we'll look at the distance," Sokka said. She did as he asked and the length looked to be equal to that of the gap between the buildings. He was wishing for a bit more room for error.

"Ok, I'm going to jump across first then I need you to run and jump across ok?"

Fear filled her face, but she nodded. Sokka ran and leapt across with ease and turned and held out his arms for her to jump to him. She backed up and got a running start and leapt just as she heard a guard yell "There they are!" She couldn't even see where he was! Where had he come from? The distraction had caused her to jump poorly and she quickly noticed that she wasn't going to make it. She started to scream right when she felt Sokka's hands grab hers. She had made it far enough that he had been able to bend over the edge to catch her. She stopped screaming, knowing that it was already too late for stealth anyways. Sokka pulled her up and said, "Here we go again." They started moving to the door on the roof as the guards topped the ladder that had been on the side of the building. Apparently this one had one. Suddenly the door to the roof swung open and two guards stepped out. Sokka whirled around pulling her with him.

"We gotta jump again." They ran to the edge of the building and jumped onto yet another. This time they both made the leap with ease, and continued running.

"Ok rooftop escape, bad idea," Sokka scolded himself as they ran. Fortunately this building had a ladder and they quickly descended it, and ran into the market crowd. They quickly removed their cloaks in an effort to blend in to the sea of green clad people. They were very glad that they had bought green clothing in Omashu.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko and Katara arrived at the riverside where the gaang had gone their separate ways. No sign of them meant they had moved down the river just as planned. Zuko turned the ostrich horse to the left and they continued following the river. Katara smiled thinking about how Aang and the others were safely hidden on the river and he was learning to Earthbend. She had brought jerky, fruit, and bread Kenji's wife had given her at the farm, and they brought money for the others. Things were looking up and they hadn't had any problems with the Fire Nation lately.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Iroh watched from his hiding place as the kids waited to be loaded into the cart. It wasn't too long before the trash cart returned from its previous trip. He watched intently as the trash was sifted through, piece by piece and placed in the cart. Good grief they were thorough.

Iroh watched nervously as two guards lifted the pedestal into the back of a cart. After continuing to fill the cart with trash a guard took the cart to the gate to be checked. It was led by a single ostrich horse and was a fairly small cart. It didn't take long for the gatekeeper to check. Iroh listened carefully so he could hear what they were saying 40 yards from hos hiding place.

"Everything checks out but this pedestal. It's too large. I will have to break it up." He Earthbended to break the pedestal and Iroh grimaced. There went their cover and hopes of an easy escape. Now they would have to do things the hard way.

"Hi there," Aang smiled and waved at the gatekeeper.

"Get them!" Iroh leapt from is hiding place and rushed to aid his young friends. The guards were excellent Earthbenders and were continually able to prevent their escape. More guards poured in by the minute and though Iroh, Toph, and Aang had the upper hand in skill, the ability of the guards was no joke and their multiplying numbers caused the situation to look bleak for the Avatar and his companions. They fought heartily regardless of their situation.

"What do we have here? Avatar Aang, it seems we have indeed met again." Koh who had appeared out of seemingly nowhere during the battle approached Aang and his friends who were surrounded by no less than thirty five elite Earthbending guards.

"Show no emotion," Iroh hissed as the spirit advanced toward them.

"Ah, the Dragon of the West. I was unaware of your loyalty to the Avatar's mission against you're native nation. I wander how your brother feels about that?" Koh's faces changed as he spoke.

"I was under the impression that you bore easily with human activities, Koh," Iroh replied.

"True," Koh replied turning away. "BUT I ALWAYS ENJOY THE OPPORTUNITY TO STEAL A FACE!" he yelled as he quickly shot back around facing Iroh with an evil looking red eyed face.

He backed away. "I would rather enjoy adding the Dragon of the West to my collection. As well as the Avatar," he said moving in front of Aang.

He moved in front of Toph with a new face on. "And who is this?" he looked back at Aang. "I've stolen the face of the Avatar's love in the past, you know?"

Toph smirked on the inside. "Well he's not my love. And I'm blind. Why would you want my face?" She said plainly with a dull look on her face.

"So you are," Koh said as he traveled around the group.

He addressed the guards. "Put them in Queen Báthory's dungeon." And with that Koh slivered away.

. . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue were able to find a place to lay low for the night. The met an elderly man in town and he questioned Yue about how she had survived the culls. They explained to him that they were still in the process of running and hiding and that they had recently come to the city not knowing the horrors that it housed. The man was quick to invite them to stay in his home and hide as long as they needed. His wife had passed away recently and he was lonely and would enjoy the company.

"The cellar will be the safest place, all my other rooms have windows," he informed them as they arrived at the house.

"We cannot thank you enough, sir."

"There is no need for thanks. My daughter was amongst the first the evil queen captured all those years ago. Back then we tried to do something about it," he sighed. "But she was ready. She had already strengthened her royal guard as she calls them and no one had expected but she had formed an alliance with the spirit Koh; so many of us died fighting to protect the future of our daughters. I had already lost mine. I wanted revenge." He sighed again and began leading them down to the cellar. "We've lost that battle and every one since. Assassination attempts of the queen's life have failed."

"Why do all those men go along with her though? What if her guard just turned on her? What do they get out of helping her kill innocent girls?"

"Well money for one thing, and they get to be on the winning side. The main thing is their fear of Koh. That keeps most of them loyal. There have been some betrayals by guards, but it did not end well for them. Examples were made; they were not afforded a quick and painless death."

"Then why is Koh loyal to her?" Yue asked, "What should a spirit care?"

"She all but worships him. Koh is vain. He cares for no one but himself. He does not care to steal a face or take a life or often times, both."

Sokka considered telling him about their friends' escape to bring help, and even though he trusted the old man, he thought it best not to tell, the less people who knew these sorts of things the better. Then there was the possibility that they didn't make it out at all. Sokka's stomach turned at the thought of it.

. . . . . . . . . . .

It was about noon when Zuko and Katara spotted a walled city up ahead.

"They may have gone in there for shelter. This is great! I bet they were able to get more food than usual," Katara beamed.

Zuko smiled. "Well let's go find them then."

They arrived at the open gates to the town and dismounted. Zuko led the ostrich horse by the reins as they walked into the town.

. . . . . . . . . . .

**I hope you're liking my fic! Review and let me know! Ask questions if you have them too. One question that you may be wandering is where is Appa during all of this? Well if you remember several chapters ago he was put in Donna's barn. He is still there, safe happy and well fed. The others on the other hand are not in such great situations.**

**Ok random nerd moment. I went and saw The Hobbit with my fiancé on New Year's Eve and OMG it was epic! If you haven't seen that movie yet you should. Seriously. It was ballin. LOTR stuff is so good! Ok nerd rant over.**

**Wait, wait, wait! Just one more nerd rant please. Ok so has anyone seen the New TV series Arrow? It's pretty legit. It's about Green Arrow's origins I'm pretty sure. I'm a DC nerd too.**

**Ok it's 3 a.m. I'm out. Review please **

**-engineergirl86**


	17. Caught

**Note: Toph has not yet invented metal bending in my story line. Also this will remain T rated. FYI. In case you start wandering where it's going to go in some places.**

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"Ugh," Aang winced as the guards slammed him into a metal wall. The guards shackled his ankles and wrists to the wall, and closed a metal flap over his mouth and locked it down to keep him from bending by blowing air, or with his head. Toph and Iroh were treated in a similar manner.

"Welcome to the Queen's dungeon," a guard began, "an example is being made of you for attempting to escape. You will be kept here until the Queen sees fit to release you." The guard smiled cruelly at them before motioning to his men to follow him out.

It took a few minutes for Aang's eyes to adjust to the dim light in the dungeon. When they did he saw a small black cage with a barred door on the front. He could see movement, but just barely.

"Momo!" Toph shouted through her muzzle. It was hard to understand her, but Aang managed.

"But how can you see for sure? I just see shadows."

Toph tried to turn her head to give Aang a look. "I'm blind! Dark doesn't bother me!"

Aang ignored her and realized that he really had found his lemur again, though he wouldn't complain if the circumstances had been better.

"Momo, can you hear me?"

The small creature recognized Aang's voice and moved to the front of the cage and looked out at his human friends. He began making his chatting sounds.

"I'm so glad you're alright Momo! Don't worry we will figure a way outa here."

"Will we?" Toph asked.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko and Katara walked into the town. It was bigger than they had suspected with the walls obscuring their view. People gawked at them, or rather Katara. Zuko reached for her hand while holding the reins of the ostrich horse in his other hand.

"Something isn't right," he said softly so only Katara could hear him. He heard a sliding sound behind him and turned seeing the guards close the gates to the city.

Katara didn't seem to pay it any attention but he was concerned.

"Zuko, I don't see any Fire Nation here. I think we are safe. I am going to start asking around to see if anyone has seen Aang." She started to step away, but he pulled her back firmly. She shot him a _what do you think you're doing _glare.

"You're not leaving my side," he hissed as he pulled her against him. "Something isn't right here, all these people are staring at you. And they closed the gates right behind us. I don't like this."

"Zuko stop worrying! They probably just closed the gates to keep the Fire Nation out. And I'm sure they are just staring because they don't see many Water Tribe people."

"What about Sokka and Yue? They should have gotten used to seeing them by now. The town's not _that_ big."

"Well then," she said still thinking him to be overreacting, "why don't _we_ ask someone if they have seen the others." Zuko wasn't paying attention to a word she said, he was just staring out in the distance with a grimace on his face.

"Zuko! Are you even listening to me?"

"Quiet!"

She frowned and jerked her hand from his and crossed her arms to show her frustration, he gripped her arm firmly but didn't acknowledge her. What was his deal anyways? She looked up at him with a scowl on her face; he was still staring out in the distance.

"Hmmmph," she groaned.

"We've got to move," he said hastily and pulled her arm to get her to follow him as he quickly headed for an alley way.

"What about our stuff and the ostrich horse?" Zuko had left them there at the hitching post in the marketplace. "What is going on Zuko?"

"There were guards approaching us from several different directions. Didn't you see them or were you too busy talking to pay any attention?" They stopped by a corner of a building and he pulled her against his chest as she shoved against him trying to keep away.

"What are you doing?" he growled.

"I don't want you holding me if you're going to be a paranoid jerk." Zuko heard the sound of boots clomping against the ground coming towards them. He grabbed Katara more forcefully and covered her mouth with his hand pulling her into a crevice between two buildings with him. She wiggled to get free and Zuko tightened his grip.

Two units of guards met up just outside of where they were hiding and Zuko strained to hear what they were saying.

"Did you see which way the Water Tribe girl went?"

"No, we've got to find her; the queen would be very displeased if another Water Tribe girl escaped her grasp in the same week. You keep looking for the white haired one. We will go after this new one. They are very pretty little things; maybe the queen will allow us to play around with them before she kills them."

"She hates the Water Tribe girls. You remember her fiancé cheated on her with one. I don't know that she would allow it."

"She may. She will want to make their deaths as painful as possible."

Katara quit struggling against Zuko and leaned back into him. A tear rolled down her face, she wasn't afraid for herself, she was afraid for Yue. What if these men got her? Yue couldn't defend herself with bending like Katara could. She looked up at Zuko and saw nothing but fury in his eyes.

She turned around in his arms and cupped his cheeks. "Zuko," she cooed trying to calm him down.

"How could they talk about you like that! I will end them all for even entertaining those thoughts!"

"Zuko, I'm sorry . . . I should have trusted you and listened."

He pulled her into his arms. "It's ok Tara. I love you and I am going to protect you from these people. Don't cry." He wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"I'm crying for Yue. What if they get her?"

"I will come back and help her but right now we are leaving this city. It's not safe for you here. The others may have already left. We are getting out of here and when you are somewhere safe I will search for the others. I promise." With that he gently kissed her lips and looked out of the crevice to see if any guards were near them.

They silently left the enclosure and headed for the wall of the city. When they neared it they found that there was a large open space in front of the wall so that the guards patrolling it could see all around it. They wouldn't be able to use the cover of buildings to sneak up to the wall. Katara wondered if escape was even possible.

Zuko grabbed her hand. "We will have to make a break for it. It's too dangerous to keep hiding in the city. I have never seen so many guards."

"I don't want to leave if Yue and the others are still here Zuko."

"I will come back for them. And we don't know they are here. They may have already escaped. You heard the guards. They haven't caught Yue." At this Katara reluctantly nodded and allowed Zuko to have his way. They waited until none of the guards were looking in their direction and sprinted across the open space to the wall. They leaned against it hoping the angle was too steep for the guards to see them.

"Now what?" Katara asked.

"Now we climb the wall." He pulled out two knives and stuck them into the rock facing of the wall. Zuko pulled Katara in front of him and she reached around his neck to hold on. He began his ascent, praying that they wouldn't be spotted. Luck wasn't on his side.

"Zuko look out!" Guards had spotted them from between the buildings and one shot a well-aimed arrow at them. Zuko turned just in time and knocked it away with Fire Bending. _Crap this couldn't possibly get worse. We are sitting ducks here and it's too high to jump down. Way to go Zuko. _He mentally beat himself up for trusting in his stealth too much and being too impatient. If only they had waited and looked for another exit, but as many guards were traveling the streets he thought they would surely be cornered, so he had decided to try and slip out under their noses.

"The queen wants her alive! What are you doing?" A guard asked the one who shot the arrow.

"I'm aiming for the man. Trust me!"

Two guards atop the fifty foot stone wall ran to the point right above them and began Earthbending rocks towards them. Zuko was able to smash several with Firebending as Katara gathered water from here pouch to freeze the two Earthbenders in place.

Zuko turned just in time to deflect another arrow as an unseen Earthbender shot another rock at him. The two were not able to keep up with the onslaught of incoming danger from their difficult position hanging from the wall. A rock hit Zuko in the back of the head knocking him unconscious and the two fell twenty feet to the ground. Zuko was unconscious and Katara was knocked breathless by their hard landing. They were immediately surrounded by guards. Two of them picked Katara up one holding each arm, likewise two picked up Zuko's unconscious form and began to drag him.

"Let us go!" Katara struggled weakly, only to be smacked by a guard. "Shut up and show respect!"

"I like 'em feisty!" The guard holding her right arm licked his lips and smacked her butt hard causing her to yell out. He growled at her and grabbed her butt.

"Stop!" The other guard who smacked her face instructed. "If you keep going without the queen's permission it will be your head! Don't forget it. We'll ask her majesty and then have some fun."

Katara grimaced as she felt blood on her lips from where the man had smacked her across the face. She felt violated from the much older creepy man touching her. If Zuko had seen that she was certain he wouldn't be breathing anymore. She hoped the queen would keep them from doing things to her. She had to find a way to escape and also get Zuko out of there. Guards were everywhere, rooftops, alley ways, streets, everywhere.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka couldn't help but look out the window every few minutes. The curtains were drawn and he would peek through them to see that there were no guards approaching the house. Yue was currently cooking for them and the kind man who had offered them a safe place to stay. He was so lonely without his family and her heart went out to him. She wished this place wasn't so awful. There were so many good people here who lived in fear and tyranny every day. They had to help; they just had to! She hoped with every fiber of her being that the others had escaped and were safe. They would lead the Fire Nation here, and while Fire Nation rule was not ideal at least it kept them from being slaughtered like the evil Queen Báthory was doing. She sighed and put the food on the plate. Sokka and Yao, the man in whose house they were staying, were already sitting at the table. Sokka had a serious and focused look on his face. He wasn't his normal self who complained about being hungry.

She sat the food in front of them before returning to retrieve her own.

"Thank you young lady, you remind me so much of my daughter, kind and caring."

Yue gave him a small smile to say 'Thank you'.

"Thanks for inviting us into your house," Sokka added still in a grim mood.

"It was the least I could do. I only wish I could promise you were safe here. The guards look everywhere. No one has ever eluded them before. Their numbers are impossible to compensate for."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

As metal door was opened to what seemed to be a giant cage or jail cell and Katara was carelessly flung in. The door was slammed and locked. Zuko was still unconscious and she watched as they carried him away. She fell to her knees and cried his name, afraid of what was to become of the prince.

The guards carried Zuko down even more flights of stairs to what seemed to be the very bottom underground layer of the palace. A large solid metal door was opened and his limp form was dragged in and slammed against a wall.

"ZUKO!" Iroh yelled from across the room, he was shocked and terrified to see his nephew unconscious in the city. He had assumed he and Katara would come eventually, but he had hoped it would be after they had escaped this dreadful place and they could stop them.

Zuko was strapped to the wall in the same manner as his uncle and the others. Iroh hoped that he was ok, and would come to, soon. His mind instantly wandered to the young lady his nephew had been traveling with and he feared the worst. He thought it wise not to mention her while the guards were in earshot in the case that they had only captured Zuko and not Katara. Aang however didn't seem to have the same thoughts on the subject as he yelled at the guards.

"Where is Katara?" The guards ignored him and left the room, locking it behind them though they were braced to the wall and had no ability to escape anyways.

"Zuko, can you hear me? Zuko!" Iroh yelled trying to wake his nephew. It was no use.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"My queen, we have captured a Water girl. She is in the sacrifice chamber. She is not the one who you sent us to find. She is a new comer who arrived earlier today with a Firebender. I assure you, we are doing our best to find the white haired Water girl. The Firebender is in the dungeon with Koh's prisoners from this morning. They know each other."

"Very good Lieutenant, you're not as incompetent as I previously believed you to be. Tell me of this Water girl."

"She has the tan skin, brown hair, and blue eyes if the tribe. She is the same height as yourself my queen and she I very lovely. Long wavy hair and flawless skin; she is of a lovely build as well and is in the early stages of womanhood. She doesn't possess the body of a little girl. I assume she is near marrying age and has a betrothal necklace. It seems that the Firebender is her lover."

"It sounds like . . . _her. _. . I assume your men want their way with her?"

"Yes my queen."

"Very well, make her suffer. Tell them to put her in as much pain as they can."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Early that evening after Sokka checked the window for the umpteenth time Yue grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. Yao had already gone to bed and Yue led Sokka downstairs to where they had been sleeping.

"Sokka, I want you to hold me. Stop worrying and just hold me. You're not yourself right now and I miss Sokka. I'm tired of this serious guy who worries all the time."

She took off her out layer of bulky robes leaving on a layer of green underclothes. Her top was strapless and it revealed a little bit of her stomach. The bottoms consisted of a short form fitting skirt that covered her underwear.

Sokka stood back and stared at her as she lay down on the pallet of blankets and motioned for him to join her. He joined her on the blankets and held her close.

"Why-?" he asked looking at her clothes, but he didn't get to finish because she covered his lips with a finger. "Because you need to relax, you're way too uptight," she said as she slid her arms around his neck.

He put his arms around her and pulled her in close. "It's because I want you to be safe Yue; I'm concerned for your safety.

"I think you've been doing a great job protecting me, my big strong warrior. She ran her hand over his arm caressing it as she batted her eyelashes at him and wiggled closer.

"You're asking for it princess," he flipped her over on her back and straddled her as he hovered over her. He smirked and his lips quickly found hers. They began to explore the other's mouth with their tongue as the kiss became more heated.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

**A little Yukka fluff for you there at the end.**

**Please Review! This chap was difficult for me to write. I knew where I was going, but getting there was harder than expected. I hope it was good enough, but it felt rushed and I don't think my sentence structure was that great overall. So please don't hate me for a crappy chapter, but I really want to get this one up. **

**I want honest reviews even if they are negative. Thanks!  
**

**-engineergirl86**


	18. Problems Abound

**Thank you to my reviewers! You are great!**

**I don't own Avatar or any of the amazing characters.**

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_Where am I? Ugh, why does my head hurt? Katara? _"Katara?" Zuko's eyes shot open when everything came rushing back to him. His wrists and ankles were shackled to a wall with metal cuffs. A metal bar covered his mouth and prohibited him from moving his head. The light was dim but he was able to make out the forms of Aang, Toph, and Iroh across the room.

"Prince Zuko? Are you ok?" Iroh asked.

"Where is Katara?" Zuko replied fiercely.

"I don't know. They brought you in unconscious a couple hours ago."

"NO!" Zuko began leaning forward against the braces as hard as he could, pushing on them with all of his strength.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue slept peacefully in the cellar of Yao's house on a pallet of blankets he had given them. Yue quietly shifted her head from Sokka's chest to his shoulder, trying to keep from waking him. He felt her stirring and reached to caress her face.

"I love you."

"I love you too Sokka."

She kissed him lightly before laying her head back down.

"You're so beautiful Yue. Why are you interested in a guy like me?"

"That's a silly question. You're so cute Sokka, and you're brave, and handsome." She kissed his lips lightly as she said this.

Suddenly a thumping sound was heard upstairs. "I think someone is at the door." Sokka said.

"Hello," they heard Yao answer the door upstairs. Sokka knew it was the queen's royal guard. Who else would bang on someone's door in the middle of the night? Yao had told them that when this happened he would have to answer the door. If he didn't they would kick it in and search the house. Sokka hoped that Yao would be able to convince the guard he wasn't helping them. Sokka stood up and opened the trap door to the catacombs and pulled on his boots. Yue put her outer robes and shoes back on.

"Have you seen any people from the Water Tribe? We are to take them to the queen."

"No, I haven't. Have a good evening."

"Not so fast. We will have to search your house."

"You won't find anything! You took my daughter from me years ago and all my family has passed. I have nothing because you people took all I had!"

"Step aside old man."

"Let's go," Sokka said to Yue. They climbed down into the catacombs yet again. Sokka closed the door. Yue looked out around the corner.

"Sokka they are everywhere."

"We will have to hope they don't come in here then." They knelt in the corner of the small room in the catacombs directly below Yao's house. The room was small and square and the walls were made of the same stone blocks the rest of the catacombs consisted of. Every house in the city had a trap door in the cellar that connected to a small room directly below the property in the catacombs. Sokka hoped the guards in the catacombs outside their room would clear out soon. It wouldn't be long until the men searching the house above looked down here.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Katara waited nervously in the cage, trying to figure a way out. There had to be one. If only she had some water. She had used it all fighting the guards. Katara looked around the outside of her cage desperately. _Wait! I do have water!_ She began jogging in place and doing any exercise she could think of to cause herself to sweat. She bended the sweat off of her body and began to try to cut through the metal bars by slicing the water back and forth. Just as she began to make some progress two guards entered the room. She recognized them as the two who had restrained her and dragged her up to this room. They both had malevolent grins on their faces.

"What do you want?" Katara asked.

"You were trying to escape; it's no use. You will find it's quite impossible to leave this palace. In fact you will die here within the hour. But first, we are going to have some fun."

The guards opened the door and Katara shot ice daggers at them which they shattered with their swords. The guards lunged at her and restrained her arms so she couldn't bend anymore. They dragged her into another room as she kicked, clawed, and screamed at them, fighting every inch of the way. They ultimately arrived at a room that Katara found to be very odd. The walls were red and had various knives and swords hanging from the walls seemingly as decorations. But the oddest part to Katara was the large tub against one of the walls.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

**I know this was very short, I will update very soon. The plot bunnies were begging me to stop right there. It just seemed to be an excellent cliffhanger moment.**

**Don't hate me! I couldn't help it!**

**(Runs away)**

**Anyways, I promise to update on Friday or sooner. Please review!**

**-engineergirl86**


	19. Fire's Wrath

Sokka peeked out around the corner of the doorframe of the small room below Yao's house. Guards were swarming like bees around honey. The queen really must want Yue. Sokka began to doubt if he could continue to protect her by sneaking around like this. They were eventually going to get caught. He silently prayed that help from Iroh, Aang, and Toph would arrive soon.

"You two, check that room." Sokka cringed. He hoped 'that room' wasn't _his room_. He pulled out his boomerang with his right hand while grabbing his club with his left. He was almost tempted to try and escape by going back through the trap door and hoping that the guards had left Yao's house. His hopes were dashed when he heard footsteps and talking above his head. These weren't the quiet soft steps of the small old man, but loud metallic stomps that came only from the guard's armored boots. He heard more footsteps approaching them from outside in the catacombs. Yue grasped his arm and he turned and kissed her lips.

"They'll have to go through me to get you," he vowed though he knew he didn't stand a chance against their numbers, several guards, maybe, but there were at least thirty in their general area. Yue pulled Sokka's head down into one last kiss before they heard the footsteps outside their room. Sokka turned and stood in front of Yue to protect her.

"Here they are!" a guard sneered as he entered the room to see Sokka with his weapons at the ready standing in front of Yue.

"Surrender the girl and you won't be harmed."

"Never!"

"Have it your way," he looked to the men following him, "Take the girl to the sacrifice room and take the boy to the dungeon." He started to step aside when Sokka lurched forward and slammed his club into the side of the lieutenant's head, knocking him to the ground. Several men drew their swords and charged Sokka who was put immediately on the defensive. He parried their strikes with his club and boomerang, and was able to get a few hits of his own in before his arm was glanced by a sword, cutting a gash into it. Yue gasped and Sokka grimaced.

"STOP! I will go with you just don't hurt him!" Yue hurried to the men holding her arms out to be cuffed.

"NO!" Sokka yelled as he grabbed the sword from the unconscious lieutenant. Sokka knew he was no sword master, but his club and boomerang weren't doing much against swords. But it was too little, too late the men were able to knock him down and restrain him.

They forced Sokka and Yue out of the room and toward the palace. Sokka was tied up with a rope so he would stop struggling, and Yue's wrists were bound. The two young Water Tribe people had put up a valiant effort, but in the end they were outnumbered and out matched. They were taken in the direction of the palace.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Katara was flung down on the floor in the strange room, she turned to see a figure emerge from the shadows that she had not noticed before. She watched as the men realized another person was in the room. They both bowed lowly as a petite woman with greying hair entered the lighted area of the room. Katara regarded her curiously. _This must be the queen_ she mused.

"Your highness, to what do we owe the honor of your presence?" one of the men asked.

The queen smirked. "It is a rare pleasure to watch the suffering of a member of the Water Tribes. I dare not miss this opportunity. Feel free to have your fun, and be sure to make her suffer." The queen smiled at her malevolently.

"Why are you doing this?" Katara yelled as the two men approached her.

"Why? You want to know why I'm doing this? I'm doing this because a Water Tribe girl ruined my life! I need the blood of beautiful girls to keep me looking young and beautiful. Even at my age I am the most beautiful woman in all the land. Your blood will restore youth and beauty to my body."

"You bathe in blood! That is sick! It doesn't make you more beautiful, all you're doing is killing girls!"

The queen ignored her comment, and nodded at the guards who each grabbed hold of Katara. One began to untie her belt as the other held her down and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Zuko, it's no use, we have tried to escape all day," Aang argued as the Firebender thrashed around and jerked on his restraints trying to get loose. Zuko ignored him and kept jerking on the restraints. Even in his adrenaline filled state he wasn't able to break the bonds. The metal was just too strong. _Wait, metal loses strength when it's superheated._ Zuko lit his hands on fire and began to melt to soften the metal.

"Zuko! You will burn yourself terribly!" Iroh yelled as his nephew continued heating the metal bonds around his wrists.

"I don't care! I've got to get Katara!" _Just a little more._ Zuko jerked his arms forward into the scalding metal bonds, but they didn't budge. Zuko groaned as he felt his wrists being burned, but that didn't stop him from jerking forward again with all his strength and breaking the bonds. Iroh winced as he watched his nephew jerk through the bonds burning his wrists horribly. Removing the head restraint was easy as it wasn't bolted down so securely. Zuko was able to break it by simple pulling on it. He firebended the ankle restraints and was able to break through them fairly quickly. He growled as he kicked through the restraint burning his leg.

"I'll be back for you!" he yelled as he grabbed his swords from the corner of the room and put the hilt back on his belt. Zuko shot a huge fireball at the door which damaged it, then he kicked it down with a Firebending kick. He sprinted through the palace knocking down doors randomly to look for his Waterbender. Thankfully he hadn't run into any guards. He was sure he could take them, but they would slow down his search.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Katara whined and tried to pull free as the guards began removing her dress roughly, slapping her and hitting her so hard she winced and knew it would leave bruises. Thankfully she had on her breast bindings, but it wouldn't be long until they too were torn away. She felt tears run down her cheeks. So this is how it would end. She would lose her purity at the age of fourteen to men who would take her without her consent. Even if she were to escape being killed for the queen's sick pleasure of bathing in her blood she would never be the same. Zuko wouldn't want her any more, neither would any boy in the Water Tribe. She allowed her tears to flow freely as the dress, her boots, and her leggings were pulled away and tossed to the side.

"Ah!" the guard who had removed her clothes screamed as he was engulfed by a huge fireball. The other one gasped as another wall of flame hit him, knocking him away from a crying Katara who was laying on the ground in her underwear.

"Zuko?" she asked weakly as she could see a fight out of the corner of her tear clouded eyes. The Firebender was beating the guards mercilessly.

Suddenly she saw the queen running toward her with a sword; she tried to find the strength to bend a water shield out of her tears but it was useless she was in too bad a shape to bend, and there probably wasn't enough water anyways. She shielded herself with her arms as she heard metal clang against metal. The Waterbender opened her eyes to see Zuko standing above her blocking the queen's attack.

"You really _don't _want to fight me right now," Zuko growled as he pushed her back with his swords, knocking her to the ground. Katara glanced over at the guards, one was unconscious and the other was hobbling to the door to try to go get help. Both were badly burned. Zuko turned to look at her and she could tell by his face that she was badly beaten, there was sadness and sorrow written all over his features. He gently scooped her into his arms, and she felt her head loll back as he pulled her close and she slipped into unconsciousness.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**I know it's short again but at least I have updated. School is taking up a lot of my time but don't worry I am not going to stop writing this story. Chapters will probably just be shorter so I don't go so long between them. Thanks and please review!**

**-engineergirl86**


	20. Escape and Healing

**Yes I am still alive. Sorry it's taken so long to update, so without further ado, I give you the next chapter of Caves:**

Zuko kicked a wave of fire towards the guard attempting to leave the room for help, knocking him back against the wall. Oh how he would have loved to stay there and make them pay for what they had done, and tried to do, to Katara. Anger consumed him, but he forced himself to run out of the room, the unconscious Waterbender in his arms. There wasn't much time before more guards arrived to find what had happened. He held her unconscious body close to his own as he bolted down the hallway toward any exit he could find. _Those men, they almost . . ._ Zuko couldn't imagine what he would have done to them if it had happened. He wouldn't have been able to think rationally about needing to escape as he was right now. Honestly he did want to go back and end them for trying.

Zuko ran down a hall to his left, thinking it would lead him out of the palace. He turned the corner and ran into six guards. He responded instantly fueling his attack with his anger as he jump kicked and Firebended the guards back and out of his way. He held Katara close, protecting her small unconscious form from the heat and attacks of the guards. He was able to beat them off with only the use of his Firebending kicks and keep running. Zuko ran to an overlook where he could see the doors. They were well guarded. There had to be another way out.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Go after them!" the frustrated queen yelled at the badly injured guards. When they were unable to due to the extent of their injuries, she ran out the door towards then wing of the palace that housed her guards. She cursed herself for sending all but a handful out to comb the streets for the white haired Water girl. She knew Koh was also out patrolling the wall of the city. The two couldn't make it far. She would have the girl's blood and the boy would rot in prison to suffer for his love. She hated all love; if she couldn't have hers all those years ago then no one else could either.

She arrived at the guard quarters and ordered all fifteen of the men there to go after the Water girl and the Firebender.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue were dragged into the palace and they could tell something was off. Guards ran everywhere seemingly searching for someone. Sokka was taken to the dungeon, and Yue was taken to the queen's sacrifice cage. Sokka kicked, screamed, and yelled, trying to get free to help his beloved. He felt that he had failed her. All his attempts to escape were to no avail, though. The door to the dungeon swung open and there he saw them. Aang, Iroh, and Toph, all chained to the wall. All hope truly was lost.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko ran up every set of stairs he came across, hoping that his plan would work, because if it didn't, well he didn't exactly have a backup. The stories began to get smaller telling him that he was getting close. Luckily he hadn't run into any more guards. They would have thought he went to the exit of the palace and into the street. Good, that would keep them away. He stopped at one point to lean out a window and see how much further they had. When he saw that it was only one more story. He decided to take the initiative and go ahead and climb up to the roof. He undid his belt and used it to strap Katara to him so she wouldn't fall.

He climbed out the window and up the side of the palace onto the roof. Zuko unstrapped Katara, and replaced his belt. He lifted her light form into his arms and ran down the roof toward the city wall. The palace was the only building that was attached to the wall of the city and he knew if he wanted to escape this would be the optimum place. His stomach twisted I guilt as he thought about leaving his uncle and Aang and Toph. He promised silently to return, knowing he would feel much more quilt and pain if he didn't escape and get Katara to a safe location.

Zuko noticed that the wall was lightly guarded, as he hid behind a stone pillar and peered toward the wall. _That's strange. I hope this isn't a trap._ Zuko was unaware of just how many guards had been deployed into the city to search for the Water Tribe princess. For once it seemed like the universe was giving him a break. From the corner of his eye he could see Koh; the spirit was still a long way off, but if he wanted to escape, he would need to do it before Koh got any closer to the palace. Zuko watched the guards like a hawk and as soon as they were both looking away he crept to the next closer pillar. He was a master of stealth and had trained since childhood. He silently wished the noontime sun wasn't over his head. Stealth preferred darkness, but he would have to make do with what he had. He crept to the wall and leaned against the back of the guard tower. A supply room was next to it; the Fire nation prince crept in hoping he could quickly find something useful for descending the wall. A rope was hanging on the wall and Zuko grabbed it before peering back out the door to see if the coast was clear. Koh was getting closer but thankfully the spirit still hadn't spotted them.

A group of guards approaching caught Zuko's eye and he stepped back in, closing the door. After what seemed like an eternity he heard their footsteps becoming faint, and he snuck out staying close to the tower. He lasso hooked an upraised part of the wall and climbed over, holding Katara's limp body close to his own.

"They're escaping!"

_Oh crap, time to move. _Zuko slid down the rope in no time and sprinted towards the woods. He could hear guards descending the wall to follow him. Zuko ran sporadically through the woods trying to lose the guards and keep away from their deadly assault with bow and arrows.

After running in random directions for quite some time, the Fire Prince decided they were relatively safe and slowed to a walk, catching his breath as the adrenaline rush left him. Now to find water, secluded where no one could see them, so Katara could heal herself, her lovely body was badly beaten and bruised. Rage once again filled Zuko. He climbed down a grassy embankment surrounded by trees. There was a little stream running through it and a tiny clearing about twelve feet by five feet next to the stream covered in grass. It was a beautiful little area. Clover flowers popped up in patches and a few beautiful irises bloomed in the spots of sunshine. _Katara would love it here_, Zuko mussed with a small smile as he walked into the small area and noticed more pink flowers on the side of the stream. His smile quickly faded as he gazed upon his Waterbender. He stepped into the knee deep water and knelt down easing Katara into the water.

"Tara, wake up, heal yourself," he breathed, holding her waist with his left arm and cupping her face with his right hand.

"You're safe now. I love you," he pleaded with her. "I'm sorry for letting them hurt you! I will make them pay!" he clenched his fist almost lighting it on fire. He buried his face in her hair and held her closely. How could he have let this happen to her? Wasn't he supposed to be protecting her? Well he was doing a lousy job at it; that's for sure. First the broken leg, now this; how could he be so stupid and worthless and weak?

Katara's eyes began to flutter open. "Zuko?"

"I'm here Tara, you are safe."

Katara lifted her hand to cup his cheek. "You rescued me," she breathed.

Zuko shook his head. "No, I failed to protect you in the first place."

Katara shook her head to disagree with him. "No, Zuko,"

"Shh," the Fire Prince pressed his finger to her lips. "Heal your injuries Katara."

As he removed his finger from her lips she caught sight of his wrist and gasped.

"Zuko, what happened to your arm?" she grabbed his hand and pulled it closer to examine his marred wrist. The flesh was burned and ripped off in some places. Parts were covered in blood and gigantic white blisters. It was the worst burn she had ever seen. She moved from his embrace to kneel in front of him as she covered her hands in glowing blue water. Zuko tensed at the initial contact, but quickly relaxed as her soothing caress healed his injury. He groaned in relief as she healed away the last blister.

"Any more?"

Zuko nodded reluctantly. He didn't like her having to take care of him. It made him feel weak; she should be healing her own wounds. She grabbed hold of his other wrist, and he pulled it away. "Heal yourself first," he demanded.

She shook her head and reached for his arm again. He frowned at her sternly, showing that he would not be denied. Katara sighed; if there was anyone else in the world as stubborn as she, it was definitely Zuko.

"Fine but you have to tell me where you got them. Is there another Firenbender?"

Zuko shook his head. Honestly he was a bit insulted that she thought he could be bested at his own element so easily. I mean sure, Uncle Iroh, Azula, his father, and a handful of elite master Firebenders were better than him, but he certainly wasn't just your run of the mill average Firebender; he was better than that and he would make sure she knew it. After all he was better than Zhao and most of the military officials.

Once his ego recovered he decided it was best not to tell her that he had practically burned his own flesh off to get to her, to save her, so he kept quiet and watched her move glowing water over her beautiful mocha skin as her bruises disappeared. Rage filled him again as he thought about what the guards had attempted to do to her, and he pulled her to his chest clenching her tightly and interrupting her healing. It was more than worth the pain it had put him through; if it had required him to burn his whole arm off to save her, he would have done it without a second thought. He held her firmly to him and kissed her head.

Katara was disappointed that Zuko wouldn't tell her what happened, but she wasn't the least bit surprised. He wasn't much of a talker, and she loved him just the way he was, but it didn't stop her from being concerned and curious. Maybe he would tell her soon. She relaxed for a second in his warm embrace before he let her go and insisted she continue healing herself.

. . . . . . . .

When Katara had finished healing herself she reached for Zuko's arm and pulled it to her so she could heal it. He had a pensive look on his face and was staring off in the distance. She considered asking what was on his mind but decided against it. He looked down at her and ran the back of his hand over her cheek, still frowning. She stopped her work to look into his eyes.

"What is bothering you?" she asked softly as she touched his cheek. Zuko pulled her hand down into his and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I am going to make them pay for trying to dishonor you," he replied simply and firmly as he caressed her cheek. "I don't know what I would have done if. . ." he looked to the side and frowned deeply. Tears began to pool in Katara's eyes, and they suddenly burst out and she cried fervently. Slightly shocked Zuko pulled her back into his embrace in the cool water and rubbed his left hand over her back, ignoring the pain in his wrist that she had only partially healed. He lifted her chin and tilted her head to him. Zuko gently began to kiss away her tears. "You are safe now Tara; I'm never going to let you out of my sight again. No one will hurt you I promise." He pressed his lips to hers gently kissing her.

"Zuko, I'm not crying because I am afraid of them."

Confused, Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. "Then what is troubling you? I swear I will make it go away," he said as he stared into her eyes with such intensity it melted her heart and she felt herself go limp and fall against him.

"I . . . if . . ." she gathered the courage to tell him what was troubling her. "If they had succeeded in what they were trying to do, I wouldn't be pure anymore. You wouldn't want me."

Zuko pulled her firmly against him and looked deeply into her eyes. "I will always want you," he said passionately. "I would just have been uncontrollably enraged. I definitely would have killed every one of them without hesitation. I almost did anyways; the only thing stopping me was the thought of getting you to safety. Katara, nothing can ever make me stop loving you."

Tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks and Zuko wiped them away with his thumbs. As he did she caught sight of his unhealed wrist and pulled it to her to continue her work.

He sat silently relishing in the cooling sensation that the healing provided. He felt so relaxed for once sitting in the stream with Katara healing his arm. He never wanted to let her out of his sight again. He wouldn't allow it. Once they won the war he would ask her hand in marriage. He would help his uncle ridding the fire nation of Ozai's war crazed supporters and he would see to it that Katara moved to the palace where she would be honored as the Fire Prince's betrothed. She would get her own living quarters and personal guards; with he himself being her primary protector. And one day they would be married and things would only get better, she would be in his presence constantly. He sighed; his uncle was still in the clutches of the evil queen. He had to go back and help him and his friends. He hoped Katara would understand him leaving her alone this once, but it was far safer than taking her back to that place. He felt guilty for enjoying his time here with her while the others were locked in the dungeon and he had no idea what Sokka and Yue were going through.

"Are these the only burns or are there more?" Katara asked, interrupting his thoughts. He lifted a leg out of the water to show her his ankle. It was almost as bad as the wrist burns. He didn't like asking for her help; it made him feel weak, but he had to admit, he rather enjoyed her soft healing touch, so he permitted himself this momentary lapse of stubbornness to enjoy her healing caresses.

Katara wandered how these burns on his ankles and wrists had come to be. He was clearly in thought, so she silently healed both his ankles as she began to wander how he had escaped in the first place. Last she saw him he was quite unconscious, she decided to ask him as she finished healing the second ankle, but suddenly she felt faint. Why was she so exhausted? Had healing really taken that much out of her? If she could just make it a little further and finish this ankle she was certain Zuko would allow her to sleep in this quaint and beautiful floral clearing. She had hardly stopped to take in her scenery until now as she looked around and struggled to fight off the exhaustion to finish healing.

Zuko leaned back relaxing as he planned his approach to free Iroh when he heard a splash. He opened his eyes and shot up from leaning back on the bank of the stream to see Katara collapsed in the stream. He quickly lifted her out and her eyes fluttered open. Zuko walked out of the stream and laid her in the grass where she was surrounded by little pink flowers. She looked stunning laying amongst the flowers with her wavy hair splayed out around her shoulders and the warm sunlight on her soft features. The pink flowers seemed to pop with her tanned skin, and Zuko appreciated the full view he got of her with only her undergarments on. She smiled up at him as he caressed her cheek.

"Are you ok?"

She nodded. "Healing just takes a lot out of me."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have had you heal me when you are still weak and recovering."

"I wanted to heal you! I am fine, and I wish you would tell me what happened to you in the first place," Katara demanded.

Zuko frowned. "I'm just glad you are safe." He traced his finger over her pink lips and leaned down to place a kiss on them.

"You got hurt trying to rescue me didn't you?"

Zuko looked away and frowned. Noticing his reaction Katara quickly reached for his hand, and held it close to her. "I'm sorry, I will drop it."

He nodded and looked back down at her.

"You look beautiful in a bed of flowers." Zuko picked up a strand of her hair and played with it as she lay smiling up at him.

"I love you."

"I love you too Katara."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

**Ok so there it is! I finally updated yay! So tomorrow my fiancé and I are having a LoK day. We are going to watch all 12 episodes! He hasn't seen them all yet. I will try and update soon!**

**Thanks for your support! Please review!**

"


	21. Stay Here

**Please don't hate me. I am sorry I haven't updated. So here ya go . . .**

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Zuko leaned down to kiss the lovely Waterbender laying in the bed of pink flowers. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he pressed his lips to hers. He climbed over her where he had one knee on either side of her, and lowered himself so he was several inches above her, careful not to crush her with his weight. He deepened the kiss and she responded by wrapping her tighter around him and pulling him closer. Zuko's right arm slid under Katara lifted her up at her mid-back causing the two to be in even closer proximity. Katara moved her hands to cup his cheeks as their tongues danced around in one bender's mouth then the other's. He laid her back down on the ground and began to run his hand over her curves, groaning as he took in her hour glass shape.

. . . . . . . . . .

Yue shook the door to the cage and even rammed into it a couple times which accomplished nothing more than bruising her shoulder; she even tried to pick the lock with a hairpin only to be laughed at by a guard who told her that even if she did make it through all four locks he would stop her before she reached the door to the room which was also locked.

"I am the princess of the Northern Water Tribe and when my father hears of this there will be no place in the world you will be able to hide from our elite forces."

The guard stood and walked closer to her,

"Then we'll just have to make sure he never knows," the creepy guard grinned.

. . . . . . . . .

An hour had passed and Sokka realized that struggling against his bonds was pointless. He finally decided to have a conversation with the others that didn't involve him screaming at them to shut up so he could figure a way out to rescue Yue.

"At least Katara and Zuko aren't here," he sighed.

Sokka noticed Aang glance at Iroh in concern, and a new terror filled him. Katara was here? His babysister? It was his job to protect her, and Yue as well. . . some job he'd been doing.

"When did you see her last?" he asked in defeat.

"You gave it away didn't you Twinkle Toes?" Toph complained, "now we are going to have to listen to another fit for an hour. At least Sparky didn't stay long, so we didn't have to hear him so much."

Sokka ignored Toph's complaints and decided to try and get his mind off of the danger that the two most important women in his life were in.

"What happened to Zuko?"

"He woke up and started carrying on like you did, but at least he melted through his bonds and went to save Sugar Queen so we didn't have to hear him long," was Toph's biting remark.

Sokka ignored the malice behind her statement. "Melted through his bonds? That's great! That must be why things are so hectic out there; they are looking for them! Wait, why didn't he take you all with him?"

Iroh sighed, "It wasn't easy to get out of those bonds; he melted the metal and it burned his arms and legs severely, had he gotten us out we too would have been burned. Plus, he was quite desperate to reach Miss Katara as soon as possible."

. . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko pulled back from kissing Katara and gazed down at her.

"What is it?" she asked wondering why he'd stopped.

"You are so beautiful." A blush colored her cheeks causing her tan skin to pop even more amongst the light pink flowers and her white undergarments. He stared at her pink lips, swollen from the kissing they had been enjoying. He smirked and leaned back down to capture her lips once more.

As the kiss became more heated and passionate, Zuko shifted his weight from both forearms to only his left arm as his right arm found its way to her bare stomach. He rubbed his hand over her flat tummy and she shivered as she felt his thumb brush past her naval. Each time his hand slid up and down her stomach it seemed to reach a higher point until he barely touched the bottom of her breast. She gasped at the contact, but he continued kissing her. His hand slid back down to her naval and he squeezed her stomach with his hand and growled into the kiss. Before she knew what had happened his hand had slid all the way back up to her breast, and he had grabbed it and squeezed tightly when she whimpered and pulled away from the kiss.

"Zuko?" she whined trying to push him off of her. He had slid his hands over her breasts before, and he had kissed the tops of them that peaked out of her shirts, but this . . . this was new.

Zuko jumped back immediately realizing what he had done had upset her. He dropped his head, "I'm sorry Tara," he said as he started to stand up to walk away.

"Don't go," she pleaded, sitting up from where she had been laying. He turned around to look at her to see she wasn't terribly upset with him. He sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry I got carried away."

She nodded. "I just don't know if I'm um . . . I . . ."

"It's ok," he said lifting her chin, "I shouldn't have done that before you felt ready." She nodded and laid her head against his shoulder. She would just have to talk to Yue about it later; maybe that would help. Yue was a year older and she would be able to help Katara know if it was ok to let Zuko do that. She wanted to let him; it just made her a little uncomfortable. Wait, _Yue_. The others were still back there in that horrible tow. She had to go and help them!

"Zuko! We have to go and help the others, they are still trapped."

"I know, I promised you I wouldn't leave you Katara, but I really need to go and help them. Please stay here and wait for me. I will back as soon as possible with the others." He kissed her on the forehead and she nodded in agreement. He stood and gathered his swords and strapped them to his back. Then, he pulled her close. "I'm sorry."

She cupped his face. "It's ok; I've just never . . . I was surprised." He nodded. "I love you. Stay here. I will be back as soon as I have them."

He walked in the direction of the city and she glanced over at the flowing water in the stream and then down at the water canteen he had left for her.

_Like hell I'm staying here._

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**Tell me what you think! I promise to try and update more! **


	22. Head Games

**Ok a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders so now I can update lots! The next update will be Friday then Monday.**

. . . . . . . . . .

"SHUT UP SOKKA! Sparky is coming back; will let us all out WITH A KEY!" Toph spat out.

"They are going to KILL YUE! Burn us out of these things NOW!" the young warrior demanded of the retired Fire Nation General.

Iroh relented and began to melt the metal, but it got so hot he lost focus and stopped. He was the best Firebender on the planet, but he just couldn't sit there and burn his own flesh. His body just wouldn't do it, and his self-preservation instinct would kick in every time he tried.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko sprinted through the forest at lightning speed, vaulting over downed trees and dodging limbs. As he neared the vicinity where they were searching for him and Katara he veered off toward the entrance to the city. Dusk was falling as he reached the gate about 15 minutes later. He smirked; with his stealth skills he could practically work magic under the cover of darkness.

The Fire Prince slid into the city without any of the guards taking notice, and there were a good number of them. Zuko's smirk widened as adrenaline pumped into his veins and he disappeared into the shadows of the street. He loved this almost as much as he loved Firebending; stealth missions always gave him a rush.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Katara had filled her canteen with water and strapped it around her. The first thing she would do would be to find Appa. She needed clothes. She had waited until Zuko was quite a ways off so he wouldn't notice her start out after him. His pace was astounding and she moved as quickly as she could to try and keep him in her line of sight, but it wasn't long before he had ran off ahead and she no longer could see him. Plus night was falling, and she wanted to get out of the forest as soon as possible. Running in a dark forest was asking for trouble, she could run into something and make a loud sound and all the guards in a mile radius would come running at her.

The Waterbender decided to skirt the wall of the city to see if there was another place besides the front entrance that the city could be accessed. She thought Zuko would probably seek out such an entrance rather than going in the front gate. It seemed the stealthy and logical thing to do.

She stayed as far away as she could from the mass of guards searching for her and Zuko as she skirted the city from half a mile away. It was then that she saw a small gap in the wall where a single cart was coming through. She began to approach it using the tall grass and the cover of darkness to her advantage.

She crept up to the wall and leaned against the cold stone. Slowly she leaned to where she could peer in to the doorway. She saw a pile of trash and several men loading carts. None of them were looking in her direction though there were a few seemingly guarding the trash heap from the people of the city. _Probably so they can't escape through here,_ she mused. The Waterbender stayed close to the wall and crept out of the area.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Zuko sneaked through alley ways, climbed scaffoldings and hid in crevices as he made his way to the palace. So many guards were out, but he hadn't yet had an encounter with one. He began to wander what had become of Koh, but he quickly pushed the thoughts aside, determining that he would deal with it, if the situation presented itself. He needed to focus.

Five minutes later he reached the palace, and his question was answered. On the front patio of the palace stood the ancient spirit, he was seemingly awaiting something.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

_There are only so many places a city this size can hide a giant bison._ Katara complained to herself as she searched the streets. There were so many guards out that she kept having to hide. She had even been heard at one point but luckily she found an excellent hiding place, and the guards had dismissed the sound as a small animal.

She had searched three barns when she approached one near the center of the city. There were a number of guards surrounding it talking casually. Katara silently moved to the back of the barn and frowned seeing the lock holding the door shut. Silently she began slicing at it with her Waterbending. The lock finally broke and she caught it before it fell to the ground. Laying the lock to the side Katara pulled one of the barn doors open just enough to squeeze in and then pulled it closed behind her.

In front of her was the largest furriest tail she had ever seen. She had to resist the urge to jump up and yell "Appa!" she was thrilled to see the giant sky bison. Instead, Katara silently walked around to his front and put a finger to her lips hoping he would understand that she needed him to remain quiet. The great beast seemed to understand and she petted his head for a moment before climbing onto his saddle and finding the bag of clothes. From the bag she pulled out several dresses and some of Sokka's clothes. She sighed. _Great, fancy dress it is then I guess. _All of the outfits Katara had left in the bag were the formal dresses that Yue had given her. She pulled out the sparkly light blue one. It came up in the front middle and connected to a silver collar around her neck. The sleeveless dress fit tightly and had a slight gradual flow at the knees. Katara frowned. She loved dresses but this wasn't really the time for them. At least she was now wearing actual clothes though. She slid down off of Appa, and patted his nose, silently promising to release him from the barn as soon as possible. She tip-toed around to the back of the barn, then silently stood and listened. She was trying to mimic Zuko when he moved silently and stealthily. He was so patient; well, in this one aspect he was. As far as every other aspect of his life was concerned she knew no one more impatient.

After a moment she was certain no one was coming, and all of the guards were still in front of the barn talking. She silently slipped out into the night and covered herself in the shadows, making her way towards the palace.

. . . . . . . . .

The obvious choice for Zuko was to enter the side of the palace through the window, as far as possible from the ancient spirit. So, he backed away slowly into the shelter of the tall buildings, smirking in confidence. His skill at stealth was so advanced even an ancient spirit hadn't noticed him.

"Prince Zuko," he heard his name drawled out and the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. He cursed under his breath and spun around, drawing his twin blades. Koh was slowly approaching him, with a smirking baboon like face.

Zuko's mind raced, but he kept his face still and emotionless. What should he do? Should he run? Could one outrun a spirit? Should he fight? Truly he had no recollection of Koh's fighting skills. In everything he had read the spirit only toyed with the emotions of his victim. If he were to run, would it be considered a manifestation of fear and cause him to forfeit his face? Zuko truly was not afraid. Agitated that he had been too confident and concerned he would not be able to help his friend, but not afraid. He decided to stand his ground.

"How did you see me?" he asked.

Koh chuckled and continued toward him. "I didn't have to. Do you really think an ancient spirit being would be so unaware of his surroundings? I have known you were in the vicinity for some time."

Zuko continued in the direction of the palace; he would not be deterred from helping his friends. He held a blank look on his face as he approached the palace and the ancient spirit. He wanted to stay in a position of control, so he decided to start a conversation, and hopefully distract Koh.

"Why are you helping the queen, doubtlessly you could have stolen her face and that of the guards countless times by now?"

Koh's face changed to that of a man; he grinned. "Don't you know? I'm practically a god here. I am worshiped and feared. Just as you fear me, Fire Prince."

Koh's face changed to that of a blue creature with fangs as he lurched toward Zuko. The fire prince stood his ground, expressionless, and sidestepped Koh to continue his walk to the pushed away the urge to correct Koh. He _did not_ fear him, but he thought it better not to provoke the ancient spirit. Koh lashed around practically surrounding Zuko with his long caterpillar like body.

"Not so fast price Zuko," Koh said in a velvety tone. Zuko looked at the face that was once again in human form.

"I understand you have found a lover, a girl of the Southern Water Tribe. You must tell me of her. She must be something special for you to have burned your own flesh to save her," Koh circled him, grinning malevolently. "Seems, she is a healer too," Koh said changing his face to a white clown-like mask with red lips and black makeup. "You must have found a body of water where she could heal you; fascinating, isn't it? The healing power of those few Waterbenders, mostly women, really makes them _special_," his face changed to a lovely Water Tribe woman as he hissed out the last word. Zuko fought off the urge to react to the not so subtle threat to Katara when realization dawned on him. He had seen this face before, in book a year or so ago when his uncle was forcing him to learn history though he had little care for it. The face Koh was wearing was that of the lover of an avatar several hundred years back. There had been a conflict between the avatar and Koh who had stolen the face of his lover. Zuko was no avatar, but he got the feeling Koh enjoyed keeping powerful men in check, and this was his way of doing it, and being the heir to the Fire Nation throne, he qualified as one of these powerful men.

When Zuko said nothing, Koh stepped back and continued circling the fire prince. "For her to heal you there must have been a body of water somewhere close by," his face back to the white mask. "You know the guards are combing every inch of the forest? And, if memory serves, there is a small stream that runs through it. I wander if you left her there?"

He was trying to get Zuko to give some form of subtle confirmation; it was like Koh was completely interested in Katara. The Fire Prince kept his features stony, but he had a hunch . . .

"Perhaps," Koh crawled about in front of Zuko, "you left her at a house in a nearby village. After all you were gone for quite some time. Unless. . ." Koh's face grinned knowingly, and when Zuko still didn't respond, he altered his tactics.

"Did it ever occur to you that she could just be using you? A banished prince, shamed and scarred. I'm surprised anyone would ever want you."

A sly grin spread across Zuko's face.

"Got you," Zuko smirked, as he unsheathed his swords.

. . . . . . . .

**What just happened? Did you figure it out? If not no worries, I will clarify next time. If so please let me know in a review! Thanks for reading I will update on Friday!**

**R&R ! Please!**


	23. Hurry

Zuko lunged at Koh slashing with his broadswords and bending fire to their tips. The ancient spirit, shocked, shifted out of the way. His face changed to a fanged malevolent one as he leapt at the Fire Prince. Zuko knew he couldn't easily kill a spirit, especially one like Koh, so he was content to dodge the attacks and watch for the perfect opportunity to flee and rescue his friends. There was no reason to be concerned about his inability to defeat Koh, because in his mind he had already won. He had noticed that Koh hadn't been putting too much effort into scaring him, as the ancient spirit was known to do with his victims. All Koh had done was talk about Katara, and Zuko had developed a hunch that Koh wanted to trick him into giving away her location either by something he said or if he were to retreat back to protect her. All of this made Zuko think Koh hadn't been interested in stealing his face. Then when the spirit had mentioned his scar and said that no one would want him, Zuko was certain his hunch had been correct. The spirit had no desire to own a scarred face; he truly wanted to take Katara's to get to Zuko. And the worst thing Zuko could do at this point was to give away any indication of where the Waterbender was.

Zuko ducked an attack by Koh's insect-like arm and dived underneath him to strike him in the stomach with a flaming sword. Koh groaned and jerked back and Zuko utilized his opportunity and disappeared into the shadows. He hurried through the streets hoping the spirit wouldn't find him or catch him until he had freed his friends. When he saw an open window on the side of the palace, it was his chance. The Fire Prince cautiously and quickly approached the open window and dove through it. It seemed he was in the laundry room; there were baskets of linens and wash tubs everywhere. He soundlessly ran out of the room and into the hallways.

The risk he took was necessary. Koh would never have let him get to his friends if he had stayed and continued talking. He had to attack, but he knew doing so was a manifestation of emotion, frustration, rage, that is why he had to make certain that his hunch was right. He smirked as he sprinted through the hallways of the palace towards the dungeon; he had just outwitted an ancient spirit, seems his father was wrong about him being a failure after all.

The Fire Prince made quick work of the guards he passed in the halls. He rounded the last corner before the dungeon came into sight, and stopped in his tracks, before him stood about 20 armed guards. _Damn_.

Zuko pulled out his twin blades and clashed them against the swords of the guards advancing on him.

. . . . . . . . .

From inside the cell the gaang could hear clanging and the sounds of fighting. "What is that sound!?"

"Sparky came back!" Toph exclaimed.

_Whoosh, _the sound of a giant fireball filled their ears.

_Bang, bang, ummmmph. _The door was knocked in, and Zuko entered the room.

"Took you long enough! Get me out of here; I have to go get Yue! Is Katara ok?"

Zuko nodded as he unlocked the restraints with the keys he had taken from the guards. "We've got to hurry. Koh is looking for me, and Katara. She is safe now, but we need to hurry. My guess is Yue is on the 8th level; that is where I found Katara. Hurry Sokka. We will be behind you when I free everyone else."

"Thanks," Sokka took off out the door passing all of the burned and cut up guards Zuko had dispatched. He paused for a moment and grabbed one of the unconscious guards' swords.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Thank you nephew, are you well?" Iroh asked as Zuko raced from one person to the next, unlocking their restraints.

"Yes, I am just ready to be rid of this place, but not before I kill the queen and those guards who tried to take advantage of Katara," Zuko growled as he let Momo out of his cage.

. . . . . . . . . .

Sokka had had just enough swordsmanship training to get him in trouble, but he _really_ wanted to dish out some justice _Sokka style_ with this bad boy. It couldn't be that hard could it? And, just in case he had his boomerang and club strapped to his back. Really it was idiotic for the guards to leave the prisoners weapons in the same room as them. Sokka assumed that they had never had anyone escape before, and if it hadn't been for Zuko they probably wouldn't have either. He had to admit, he really owed that hothead.

Sokka peered into room after room on the 8th floor, most of which were creepy but empty. He had just ducked out of one of the creepy red walled room when he heard her. He could tell she was crying.

"No! Get away from me! SOKKA!"

"Your boyfriend is dead. I watched him die! And now you are going to die too!"

Yue whimpered. "SOKKA!" she screamed again.

He was already tearing down the hall at top speed. As he rounded the corner and entered the room he saw a large burly guard pulling Yue out of a cage she was fighting him and screaming. He covered her mouth with a large hand and yanked her out of the cage.

"You are about to find out who the true royalty is princess. And she is going to bathe in your blood!"

"Let her go," Sokka drawled out as he lifted the sword in both hands in front of him.

The guard grinned as he threw Yue to the side. She hit the steel bars of the cage hard and fell to the ground. Sokka raced to the guard who had quickly drawn his sword.

The burly guard was just able to parry Sokka's first swing at his chest before the water tribe warrior swung the sword around to strike at his leg. The guard almost lost balance as he jumped out of the way. He threw a sloppy attack at Sokka who easily parried and brought his sword back to strike the guard in the heart, killing him almost instantly. Sokka didn't flinch; he dropped the sword and ran to Yue picking her up in his arms a she gasped at the carnage.

Without warning, she began to cry as she clung to Sokka desperately. "Oh Sokka, he told me they had killed you!"

"I'm a Southern Water Tribe warrior, they can't kill me," Sokka smirked as he held her tightly. "Are you ok?" he asked in a more somber tone.

She nodded against his shoulder.

"We are getting out of here," he whispered as he carried her out of the room.

. . . . . . .

**Sorry but that is all I have for tonight. Next update on Monday, hopefully it will be longer.**

**Please review! What did you think about Zuko and Koh?**

**Thanks for your dedication to this story!**


	24. Confrontation

**Ok, here goes! Next chappy! I hope y'all are excited because it's fixin' to get real!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.**

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Katara bunched the bottom of the dress up in her hands as she snuck through the streets. She was tempted to rip the bottom off, so she could move more easily, but it was such a pretty dress she couldn't bring herself to ruin it.

_Clomp, clomp, clomp._ Katara heard the measured steps of the guards with their metal boots nearby and quickly slid into a crevice. Why was it taking so long to get to the palace? She kept having to stop and hide, and it was beyond frustrating. She sighed and leaned her head back against the building as the guards walked by, glanced out and when it seemed safe she dislodged herself from the crevice just as she heard more clomping. The Waterbender felt her heart leap and she squeezed back into the crevice, hoping she had done so in time.

"I saw something ahead, there," one guard whispered to the guy next to him. Katara didn't hear them.

"Do you think it could be the Waterbender Koh is wanting?"

"No, she is supposed to be in the woods, but let's check it out."

They drew swords and silently approached the crevice.

Katara bended water out of her pouch and held it at the ready. Hearing nothing she assumed they had left and peaked out just slightly. The guards lunged at her; they had been approaching silently and slowly. Katara wasn't afraid; she threw all of her water at them; it wasn't much but it managed to throw them back as she bolted away. _Darn, I really wanted to prove my stealth ability to Zuko. _Why had she been so stupid earlier? But she was fully capable of doing this herself. And she would prove it too.

The sound of boots clomping reached her ears and she realized the guards were running after her.

. . . . . . . . . .

Zuko lead Aang, Iroh, and Toph through the hallways silently. Well, _he_ ran silently, the others sounded like a herd of elephants and it was all he could do not to lash out at them. He really just wanted to get back to Katara without any further trouble; his plans for revenge had been pushed aside when he learned that Koh had men looking for her in the right area. There was no time to waste, and he was already mentally beating himself for leaving her alone. And as if Queen Báthory's men had heard his thoughts, the four benders ran into a unit of guards who were apparently looking for them which was no surprise considering their recent escape from the dungeon. There had to be sixty guards.

Iroh turned to Zuko "Go, we will handle this!" Normally Zuko would have protested but in this case he nodded and took off, Toph at his heels. She covered his back as he escaped and as soon as he was far enough away she rejoined the others. He wasn't worried about leaving them. It was the Avatar, the Dragon of the West and the Blind Bandit after all; they were without a doubt three out of five of the most powerful benders on the planet. He was certain King Bumi and his father were the other two, and the way Katara spoke of her Waterbending master made Zuko assume he was a close sixth. The Fire Prince hoped that one day he would be taking his father's place on that list. He craved to be a powerful Firebender like his father and uncle, and indeed he was powerful, but he wanted to bring it to a whole new level, and it would start with learning to bend lightning. As soon as all this was over he would ask his uncle to instruct him in it, and then learn even more advanced Firebending styles. He had to surpass his father, though he wasn't sure as to why he felt so, and in truth that was not a small task. Ozai's skill rivaled that of his older brother, and Zuko acknowledged he was nowhere near the skill of Iroh.

Upon finding a window close enough to the ground to avoid an injury, Zuko leapt out. Now just to find a way out of the city without being seen, Zuko mused as he crept to the shadows.

"Prince Zuko," he heard his name drawled out. Zuko cursed under his breath, _not again_! He couldn't have Koh following him back to Katara. He decided to wait for a minute. What if Koh was just walking saying his name in case Zuko was in the vicinity, so he could get a reaction and find Zuko? The Fire Prince waited for a moment, hoping he had been right when suddenly a raspy voice came from directly behind him, "I have something you want."

Had Zuko not been prepared he may very well have jumped out of his skin. He spun around, not in the least bit prepared for what he was about to see.

In Koh's clutches was the woman he loves' held tight by the spirit's insect like legs with the pointed end of another pointed at her throat.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Aang, Iroh, and Toph were having very little problem taking out the guards. The only thing was more reinforcements had showed up, and they just kept coming, so it was not possible to get away just yet. Toph would bend the large stone floor and push them back from one direction while Iroh would breathe fire in the other. Aang would send a huge gust of air in a third direction shoving them back. They refused to go back to the cell that had held them for too long.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka and Yue peeked out of a room where they had hid as a few guards passed. The coast was clear, so they left the room and rounded a corner to see _her_.

Queen Báthory stood in front of them wielding duel swords, they weren't broadswords like Zuko's but they still looked menacing enough. Sokka drew the sword he had taken from the guard.

"You'll not escape me!" she glared at Yue.


	25. The Face Stealer

**Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long. I am excited to finally post this chapter. I hope you love it. You may have to go back and skim over the previous chapter because it's been so long (my bad). Thanks and enjoy!**

**Random Fact: I just realized I ship Sokka with pretty much everyone but Katara and guys. I like: SokkaXYue, SokkaXAzula, SokkaXTyLee, and as of like 5 seconds ago SokkaXToph. I saw some really great deviantart. Toph was a bit older and that was my only original reservation about the couple. Older SokkaXToph was super cute and I'll ship it all day long. . . Forgive the rant. I have had too much sugar today.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar as evidenced by the lack of Zutara.**

**Info you should know: This chapter starts at about 9pm. Koh is aware that the queen is currently fighting Sokka. It will remain T rated, so don't panic.**

**. . . . . . . . **

"I won't let you take her!" Sokka declared, stepping in front of Yue.

The queen laughed, "As if you have choice! Do you even know how to fight with swords? You Water Tribes are so primitive!"

The queen skillfully swung her blades toward the Water Tribe warrior who blocked each of them, one with the sword he had taken from the guard and the other with his boomerang flipped backward as a wrist guard. The queen growled, pushed off with one sword and renewed her attack with the other by pivoting around and aiming to hit Sokka in the back of the legs. Sokka was fast, though. He wasn't trained in swordsmanship but he did have a lot of other weapons training and was able to catch on rather quickly. The queen however did possess skill, and it concerned Sokka. He wished he could borrow Zuko's mastery of swordsmanship just for a few moments.

The queen's movements were calculated and precise, and so must his be.

"After I beat you I will bathe in the blood of your lover, and you will be forced to watch!" she hissed.

Sokka growled and lunged at her. She smirked; this was just the reaction she had been hoping for. She allowed one sword to glance his own as she slashed open his side with the other.

. . . . . . . .

Katara's expression was stony; she knew not to show emotion. Those guards had cornered her, and she was winning. That is, until Koh showed up.

"Let her go now!" Zuko snapped.

"I would be a bit more docile Prince Zuko, especially when I could take the life of your dearly beloved with the slightest motion."

Zuko dropped his swords on the ground. "What do you want?"

"To cause you insurmountable pain, and make it crystal clear to you that I am more powerful than you." Koh drawled as he crept closer to Zuko, changing his face to an evil blue monster.

"Why?" Zuko asked as he glared at the spirit whose face changed yet again

"You bested me once, and I will not have that again. You are a friend of the current avatar and a direct descendant of the previous one. If you recall, one of the incarnations of the avatar attempted to slay me. And because I can sense the presence of Agni surrounding you like nothing I have felt in two hundred years. He has selected you to be the next Fire Lord. No doubt he has a plan for you to restore the honor of that wretched nation."

Ignoring the plethora of other questions running through his mind about what the ancient spirit said, Zuko said, "My uncle is to be the next Fire Lord, and what do you have against Agni?"

"Oh, you are to be the next Fire Lord; that much is certain. Are you really foolish enough to believe Iroh of the Fire Nation would agree to be the next Fire Lord?" Koh slithered closer with Katara still held tightly in his clutches. "And as for Agni? Let's just say he is not in favor of my face stealing. He finds it dishonorable, and he tried to take action against me on something that was none of his concern." The spirit's dynamic features took the shape of an old man, and he slithered around Zuko practically dangling Katara in front of him, the Waterbender kept her face straight, showing no sign of emotion.

Zuko frowned. "So what is it you want from me then? You hate everything about me including my friend and the patron spirit of my nation. You're furious that I bested you, and you clearly have a disdain for my prospective position of power, because above all else that is what you covet. It's why you steal the faces. So tell me why we are having this conversation in the first place? Why aren't you just trying to kill me?"

"In due time, Prince Zuko" Koh slithered around him. "But a physical death is not what I am seeking. I seek something much more painful from you.

. . . . . . . . . .

Sokka reeled back in pain, but determination still cloaked his features. He wasn't the useless untrained warrior she saw him to be. And he fought to bring back the echoes of his father's teachings all those years ago. He refused to fail his father and Yue. He would win this fight, even if through sheer grit and determination, his will would conquer hers.

Yue's hands covered her mouth and part of her eyes as she looked on in horror at her bleeding boyfriend. He lifted his head and their eyes met for a brief second as if to convey the feelings of their hearts in case they didn't get another chance.

That's when Sokka locked his gaze back on the bloodthirsty woman in front of him, her hands locked on her slowly rotating swords as she smirked at him. Without a moment's hesitation Sokka growled and leapt at her, striking wildly and putting her on the defensive as she stepped back again and again from his onslaught, getting her own swings in occasionally but being overpowered by the force with which he swung his weapon.

Her skill was greater, that much was certain, so Sokka kept himself ever alert watching her every move with each of her razor sharp swords. One wound was enough for him. He didn't intend to do anything stupid again. Shock shown on her face and he would have smirked had it not taken away some of his concentration. Skilled blows from each of her swords rushed in to him simultaneously, one aimed for his left knee, the other for his throat. He wouldn't be able to block both. Yue gasped loudly as he ducked and hacked the lower sword out of the way of his knees.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Katara fought so hard not to show any emotion. Showing it was something she did constantly and without thinking, but the thought of having her face stolen terrified her so much she had forced herself not to. And speaking of fear, being in the clutches of Koh didn't do anything to calm her anxiety, especially with the way he was talking to Zuko. She feared for both their lives, but more, she feared she was to be used as a ploy to harm Zuko. She refused to let that happen; if only she could Waterbend.

Zuko gritted his teeth and stared back at Koh, whatever it was, he would face it head on. The thought had occurred to him though, that it could involve a certain Waterbender being in a great deal of pain. He intended to lessen the pain as much as possible.

"Well what is it then? How can I get you to release her?"

Koh snickered. "Do you know the tragic story of the queen of this city?"

When Zuko shook his head the spirit replied, "Didn't think so." And proceeded to recount the tale of the queen to Zuko, how she had been cheated on by her betrothed, and how she held a special hatred for girls of the water tribe. He left out the part about how she bathed in blood, but it mattered little as Zuko was quite familiar with that aspect.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Well," Koh sneered, "Seeing that she is now lacking a man," Zuko frowned deeply. He already didn't like where this was headed. "It would be quite poetic if someone were to leave a water tribe woman . . . for her."

"No! I will never leave Katara!"

"Don't be so hasty. You hold Katara's fate in your hands. What you will do is simple; if you wish her to survive, you will go to the queen's bad chamber tonight and make yourself one with her. Katara will watch, if she reacts in any way I will take her face. If you do not keep your end of the bargain I will kill your water maiden."

Pure shock was plastered over Zuko's face, and more than anything he wanted to kill the ancient spirit. The thought of his first time being with that _witch_ rather than Katara disgusted him, but the fact that Katara would be forced to watch worsened it. He knew how much she loved him. It would wrench her heart in two to watch it even knowing he hated every moment of it. But he had to do it. There was no option. If he didn't, Katara would die, and he knew at this point, life without Katara wasn't life at all. But he couldn't bear the thought of being with another woman. It would shatter her heart, but he would find a way to make it up to her. He first and foremost wouldn't let her die. He hoped and prayed she wouldn't react, so that her beautiful face wouldn't be stolen.

The act would mean nothing to him. He would block it all out; hell, the thought of it made his stomach cringe. Why any man would want to be with that witch baffled him. She bathed in blood of innocent girls! Katara had nothing to worry about, and he would be certain to convince her of the fact. And if she would allow him, when it was all said and done, and he had killed both Koh and the queen and taken at least twenty-five baths, he would hold her close and truly make love to her. Whispering to her how she is the only one for him. She is his first and only. He would hold her close and kiss her as she cried. Yes, he would set his sights on that goal. They would make it through this alive.

"Is there no other way?"

"No, there is not." Koh grinned and changed his face to that of a laughing spirit. Katara's face was still but Zuko knew the pain was welling up within her, and he prayed she would hold out.

"What sick and twisted pleasure do you get out of this?" the Fire Prince growled.

"You know she won't make it through watching you love another woman, without showing emotion."

"Love is not the correct term," Zuko growled out.

"Nevertheless, it will tear her heart apart, and I will have her face." Koh changed his face into that of a monster and drew Katara to his front and looked into her eyes. Zuko picked his swords up and slashed at Koh to release Katara and the spirit moved back and punctured her throat showing him what his actions had brought on. "Stop or she dies." Zuko sheathed his swords, sorry for having caused her injury. He felt he had to try though, with Koh attempting to scare her like that. Oh, how he craved the spirit's blood. "As I was saying, I will be able to reach my goal: bringing you pain by either taking her face or ending her life."

Katara held her breath and kept her features straight. She wanted out of this situation; she cursed herself for having been caught. She should have just stayed by the creek like Zuko had asked. She was so sorry, and she was going to have to pay. Watching him with another woman, she couldn't imagine. She didn't even fully understand the act in the first place. Well, she knew the anatomy of it, but not much more. She felt tears wanting to fall from her eyes. It was she who should be held by Zuko! Why was this happening to her? Her heart screamed at her as Koh ushered Zuko in the direction of the palace.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Iroh, Aang, and Toph were still fighting off guards when they saw in the distance Koh with Katara in his grasp and Zuko walking deeper into the palace several hallways over. They had almost been able to push past the guards. Zuko shot Iroh a look that told him how desperate the situation truly was.

Koh continued on toward the queen's bedroom, and Zuko felt dread filling him. They entered the room to wait for the queen, and he turned to Koh. "Can I at least have a moment alone with Katara?"

"What kind of fool do you take me for? Say what you need to say in front of me or don't say it at all. I won't risk your escape." Zuko looked at Katara and ignored the spirit.

"Katara, I am only yours; don't let this hurt you. I love you; please, don't be upset. It will mean nothing to me; I'm sickened by the thought of it, but I refuse to lose you, and this is what it is going to take for me to keep you so I must comply. You are the only one for me, love. I promise this holds no meaning. You will still be my first. Don't react; I don't want you to lose your beautiful face. You're strong, and I know you will make it through this."

. . . . . . . . .

Iroh, Aang, and Toph had finally beaten off the guards that kept on coming through the hallway. If it hadn't been for the bottleneck they were forced through, then it likely would have ended poorly for the trio of master benders, like the first time they had faced so many guards at once. The absence of Koh had helped tremendously this time. Thankfully, they were now running silently through the hallways of the palace in the direction they had seen Koh go with Zuko and Katara. How were they to face him? One could not battle without revealing their emotions. Fortunately, Iroh had some food for thought on that subject.

"We must be silent and take him by surprise. It is not something that is easily accomplished by an ancient spirit. Perhaps there will be a means by which one of us can cause an emotionless diversion. Then the others can hit him from behind."

"I'll do the hitting!" Toph piped in.

As they approached the end of the hall Iroh could see an open room with his nephew, Koh, and Katara in it. He vaguely wandered at why they were in the queen's bedroom until he was able to piece two and two together, landing him at a conclusion that he found unacceptable. They would have to act, and soon, to get Zuko and Katara out of that situation without anyone being seriously injured. The Dragon of the West motioned for the young benders to follow him down an adjacent hall to discuss their options.

. . . . . . . . . .

Katara fought to steady her breathing. She had been too afraid to respond to Zuko's profession because she might show some emotion. Now she was trying to come to terms with it, and she forced herself to stay calm. It didn't help the situation that Koh's sharp leg was pointed dangerously close to her jugular vein. He had already stabbed her once, though only slightly and in a nonlethal area. As the realization of what was truly about to happen rang through her mind, she knew it was her own fault for being caught; this was in no way Zuko's fault. Her eyes swelled with tears and she blinked them back, so Koh would not see. The queen would arrive soon and she would have to watch it; Koh would force her to keep her eyes open and see everything, she just knew it.

Katara did a double take when she thought she saw Iroh entering the room_._

_Wait, that _is_ Iroh. What is he doing? I hope he has a plan to get us out of here._

The old Fire nation General approached Koh who eyed him suspiciously. "Excuse me, I am searching for a tea set for an old friend. I know it is around here somewhere. I was asked to seek it out by the queen; surely an ancient and knowledgeable spirit such as you would be able to assist me," Iroh said without emotion

Before Koh had the opportunity to react or attempt to summon the guards (who had been taken care of by Aang, Toph, and Iroh) a large chunk of earth soared through the air and struck him on the back of the head. It knocked him forward and released Katara from his clutches, without hesitation Zuko bolted toward her and caught her before she hit the ground.

"We gotta go! Hurry!" Aang yelled from outside the door. Iroh and Zuko (carrying Katara though she insisted he put her down) rushed through the door and Toph released another barrage of earth at the spirit, attempting to pin him down. More earth flew towards the ancient spirit, and encased him as the Avatar joined in with his earthbending master.

"That won't hold him for long, we gotta split!" Toph yelled as she and Aang sprinted to catch up with the others.

Zuko felt déjà vu all over again as he carried Katara through the halls toward the exit, the others trailing.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sokka's skillful save had impressed the queen and taken her off guard. Unfortunately, he was now in a horrible position kneeling in front of her. His father's words about taking advantage of each position rang through his mind. He decided to do just that. As the sword in his right hand batted away her sword, he took his left arm and hacked into the back of her knees, causing her to lose her footing. The two grappled a bit and struggled for dominance with their weapons. When it was clear that Sokka was winning the queen launched her left sword toward Yue. Sokka acted quickly and was able to deflect it with his longer sword, causing it to slam into the floor.

As he deflected the attack on Yue, Báthory swung at his stomach with her other blade. He blocked it and the two pushed their swords against each other, the force pushed them back into a standing position, and Queen Báthory recovered her other blade on the way up. They were slashing again in no time, but she was getting sloppy, and the Water Tribe warrior's focus kept him from doing likewise. When he saw the opportunity to plunge his sword into her stomach, he didn't hesitate. She was able to inflict a minor wound on his arm as he stabbed her, but it didn't deter him. She fell to the floor, and he withdrew his blade. He grimly walked toward Yue, and took her trembling hand.

She leaned into him to lay her head on his chest and his arms snaked around her.

"We need to get going."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Zuko, you can put me down now, I am ok," Katara sniffled. A few tears of relief had escaped her eyes, and she knew it was still not the time to cry over what had almost happened.

Zuko ignored her request and held her closer. Turning the corner they almost crashed into someone and Zuko prepared to put Katara down to fight when he realized it was Sokka and Yue. Aang, Iroh , and Toph slid to a halt behind them.

"I thought you said my sister was somewhere safe."

"She was supposed to be," Zuko replied matter-of-factly as he finally set Katara down. "Go with your brother and the others. I have some loose ends to burn up."

"You mean tie up?" Sokka asked.

"No, I definitely mean burn up, a certain spirit and murderous queen."

"I beat you to the queen buddy." Sokka had a serious look on his face, showing that he did not take the ending of someone's life lightly.

Zuko nodded, slightly disappointed that it had not been him who took his revenge on the horrible woman for encouraging her guards to harm Katara, and intending to kill her.

"I'm going with you!" Katara demanded.

"No, go with your brother and the others and find Appa."

"I know where he is; I can just tell them, and then_ I'm_ going with you."

"No, you're not! You can't do anything and I won't risk you're safety again!"

"What!? Of course I can do something! I'm a master Waterbender! If you would get your chauvinist male head out of your butt and look around you might notice these things." A resounding _"oooooo"_ came from the background showing Sokka was back to his normal self.

"Watch who you are talking to," Zuko glared back at her. "And for the record, I meant that you cannot do anything because if you were to, Koh would steal your face."

Katara crossed her arms and continued to glare at him, but couldn't work up a good comeback. "Well, er . . . I'm coming any-"

"Neither of you are going; we need to escape. Besides, we all remember when Zhao tried to kill a spirit," Aang said.

"Are you challenging me?"

"No, but as the Avatar, I am the bridge between the two worlds. And I think you need to be the bigger man here Zuko, revenge is never the right way. That's what we were taught-"

"Save it for someone who gives a damn." Zuko walked through the group and Iroh stepped in front of him to block his way.

"The Avatar is right Prince Zuko. Turn back now and be the bigger man."

"Step aside Uncle. You don't know what he was going to put Katara and me through. Do you really expect me to back down?"

"Do you really expect to defeat a spirit?"

"If I have the help of another spirit"

. . . . . . . . .

**Only one more chapter on this particular arc, then we will go into a lot of normal season 2&3 stuff, and inevitably this will encompass post war stuff**

**Random Fact #2: I was watching "The Southern Air Temple" and "The warriors of Kyoshi" as I wrote this. Season 1 Zuko is so great haha. Also has anyone else noticed that season one Zuko is really muscular and season 2 and 3 Zuko is really scrawny?**

**PLEASE review. I beg of you. Please. I really want to know what you think of this chap.**


	26. The Fire Spirit

**Thanks for all of the fantastic reviews! You all make me smile! I am starting a new style of formatting so things will look a little neater. I have been quite sloppy with my formatting in the past. **

**One thing you will need to know, as the title of this chapter suggests, there is a bit of the spirit world involved. Thus, you will need to know this: In the spirit world Zuko's words are in italics. Agni's words are bold italics. Koh's words are underlined italics. Got it? Good. Also I have a small surprise for y'all at the end, just because you are fantastic. Really, it's a sneak peak into arc 4. This particular chapter is the final chapter of arc 2 (arc 1 was the first five chapters). So it is pretty far in the future, but I think you will like it (and the part I have shared starts in a cave just because, well, **_**Caves**_** is the name of this fanfic).**

-o-oOo-o-

Chapter 26

_The Fire Spirit_

Iroh nodded, accepting that Zuko wouldn't listen to him, he decided to gracefully bow out. It was certainly a bad idea for his nephew to go off and face a spirit, and he was totally against it, but if there was one thing he knew about his nephew, Zuko would never give up once he set his mind to something. Even if Iroh whacked him over the head with something, carried him back to Appa and left, his bullheaded nephew would come running back to face Koh as soon as the opportunity presented itself and Iroh was looking away. And honestly, he was too tired to deal with the frustrations involved. So the retired general gave the Fire Prince a stern look revealing his true thoughts toward his nephew's intentions, and then stepped aside.

Zuko nodded to his Uncle to show his appreciation and stepped past the old man, only to have his arm restrained by a short brunette Waterbender that he had become very familiar with in the past few weeks. The look in her eyes was unnerving and it almost broke his will to leave her. She looked utterly horrified for his safety.

"Zuko," she cooed out softly. _No, _this will not work on him. He held fast to his iron will and ignored her pleading koala-dog eyes.

"Go with your brother Tara, I will be fine," he cupped her face and she reached up to do the same to his with both of her hands, "I promise it will be ok. Apparently you all don't think too highly of me as a warrior," he tried to joke. No one laughed. "I have a plan. It will be ok. Koh will only come after us if I don't defeat him now. I love you, but you have to let me do this."

He pulled her close and crashed his lips into hers for a deep kiss, running his fingers up her back and into her hair. Sokka started to clear his throat but Yue elbowed him to shut him up.

"We're gonna have little Zukos and Kataras running around here before too long," Toph whispered to Aang and Sokka. The latter made a horrible face and cleared his throat as he dodged another elbow from Yue. The couple didn't seem to notice. So he yelled "Zuko! Don't you have a spirit to kill or should I walk down to the inn and reserve a room for you two?"

At this they pulled apart. "I'll be fine," Zuko said looking into Katara's eyes. "You look beautiful in this dress by the way," he smiled at her. She had nearly forgotten that she was wearing the fancy dress from Yue, it had been so comfortable. She glanced down and giggled.

They reluctantly released each other and Zuko ran back down the hallway towards Koh.

-o-oOo-o-

Katara lead the others through the streets silently towards where Appa was. This time there weren't many guards. Which was a good thing, because they needed to grab Appa and scram, she was fairly certain Zuko would need them to fly by and pick him up, regardless of whether or not he was able to kill Koh.

As they rounded the last corner to the barn, she realized just why they hadn't seen any guards along the way. They were all here. The queen must have sent them here back when she had first learned of their escape, and now they were here waiting. Good thing she had her water skin. She held up her left hand signaling for the others to stop behind her. Aang walked up next to her and she stepped out of the way so he could peak around the building. His eyes got big. _Here we go_ _again_, he thought.

-o-oOo-o-

It didn't take any time for Zuko to find Koh. He was huge, and the palace was pretty well destroyed so it wasn't that big of a deal. What was a big deal though was if his plan was going to work or not. Ever since Koh had told him that he was chosen of Agni he had kind of felt like he knew it for some time. There was this unexplained resolve he had about what Koh had said being true. It's like he could almost feel Agni's blood coursing through him. Like Agni was telling him he had chosen Zuko to have the divine right to rule. Not just because of his royal lineage but because Agni had meant for Zuko to be the next Fire Lord. Up until now he had been convinced it would be his Uncle. But Koh was right. Though he would offer the old man the chance, and Iroh more than deserved it, Zuko knew full well that the old general was more in tune with the spirit world than himself, and he would have sensed this. Even without this new revelation Iroh would never agree to be the next Fire Lord.

"So, Prince Zuko, let me guess, you have come back for revenge? So predictable."

"I've come back to end you!"

Koh's face changed to a laughing baboon. "Do you really think you can do that?"

"Yes." Zuko shot a huge fireball at Koh. The ancient spirit dodged it, but just barely. Zuko ran toward him, and got in Fire bending stance. He sent a fire slice toward the retreating spirit who this time absorbed the flame.

"You will need more fire power than that boy."

"It's a good thing you told me where to get it then."

Koh angrily rushed Zuko, stabbing at him with his many pointed legs. Zuko dodged and pulled out his swords to block the legs. He tried hacking one of them off, but merely scratched the surface. Koh laughed. "Did you truly think you could kill a spirit boy?" _I was hoping to have the help of another one._

Zuko sliced at Koh's chest but the blade was batted away. Koh was strong, last time he had gashed him, Zuko had had the element of surprise. With a strong shove the ancient spirit knocked Zuko back. The prince slid across the floor and into the wall. Koh approached him.

_Agni, I thought you were going to help me, I could feel it._ Just then Zuko could see the Fire Spirit in front of him and time seemed to stand still. Then it was as if he was somewhere else entirely. Koh vanished and there was a bright light. The light faded and he was

_Home?_ How did he get back to the Fire Nation? Wait, something was different. This looked similar to the Fire Nation but something was off. Agni was still there and he realized he was in the spirit world, in the realm of Agni the Fire Spirit. Of course it looked like home.

_**Zuko, son of Ozai and Ursa, far too long has my nation been without honor, much like the spirit Koh. I have seen evil men use fire as a weapon of destruction and death, and not as a sustainer of life. You have been chosen to right the wrongs of your forefathers. You are destined to be the Fire Lord who restores the honor of the Fire Nation.**_

_But why me? I have no honor. I lost it years ago. My father has yet to restore it._

_**Your honor was never gone. Ozai, Azulon, and Sozin ruled unrightfully, and without honor. Honor is not taken or bestowed. It is something you gain and lose by your own actions. Standing up to the evil plan in the war room never took away your honor. It was in fact amplified. You are to be the personification of myself as the Fire Lord. Prince Zuko, you are to take your father's place on the throne. It is your destiny to help the Avatar bring an end to this war and once again balance the nations. **_

_What of Katara? I love her. I don't want to rule if it means I cannot have her at my side. I know the nobles will not allow the bloodline of the Fire Lord to be tainted with that of other Nations._

_**Divine right to rule does not depend on the type of blood, or which nation. The ruler of the Fire Nation is to be a strong Firebender chosen of Agni. I have chosen you, and it is destined for the Waterbender to be at your side. She will bare the next heir to the Fire Nation. The opposition of the nobles is not of your concern. It is you I have given the right to rule. Your word is law.**_

_How do I defeat Koh, my swords will barely cut him?_

_**As the Fire Lord, you are given the power to be the strongest Firebender in the world. My blood and power flows through your veins, you need not rely on weapons as a crutch. You are now the most powerful Firebender in the world. **_

_Am I interrupting?_ Koh had entered the spirit world with Zuko and Agni, and was running at them. Agni quickly took himself and Zuko back to earth. Zuko, like other mortals, could not bend in the realm of the spirit world. Koh quickly followed.

_**Remember your new power.**_ And with that Agni vanished leaving Zuko alone with Koh. Zuko smirked and sheathed his swords. He had liked what the Fire Spirit had to say.

"Don't think you can defeat me now so easily mortal. I will end you and then go after the Waterbender. I will make it as slow and painful as poss-"

"Argh!" Zuko was tired of Koh talking. He spread his arms and sent an enormous blast of fire at Koh. The ancient spirit finally stopped talking, and began to scream as he was burned alive. Zuko was shocked at how intense the heat was, the fire began to burn white rather than orange, and he didn't relent. He did it for Katara, to protect her from this beast. He did it for the people in the town that Koh had taken part in tyrannically ruling. He did it for those who Koh had scared to death and stolen their faces. He did it for the Avatar who lost his love to Koh, and he did it for himself to exact his revenge on the one who had tried to destroy his relationship with Katara, the one who meant more to him than anyone, _his_ love. Zuko intensified the white flame as Koh wailed in pain.

He had burned a spirit to death. And he didn't feel the least bit of regret. He took a deep breath, looking at the pile of ash in the middle of the room. The Fire Price turned to leave, and just as he did there were a good twenty guards standing at the doorway, their faces aghast.

Zuko lit a fire in his palm preparing to fight, and the one closest to him dropped his weapon and retreated. He was quickly followed by all of the other guards.

Zuko quickly left the room and went to find the other two guards who had tried to take advantage of Katara. It didn't take long for him to find them, and theirs was a fiery end.

-o-oOo-o-

Aang, Katara and the others were all engaged in a brutal battle with La knows how many guards. True taking one down, especially those who were non-benders, wasn't all that difficult. Problem was there were so darn many of them. The ones who were earth benders gave Sokka fits, rocks seemed to block his boomerang and club pretty well, so he and Yue stuck close to Toph. Iroh, Aang, Katara, and Toph however, were holding their own quite well. Soon Appa would be in their grasp.

Just then another blast of fire flew past their heads. It hadn't come from Iroh. Katara turned around. "Zuko!" she yelled and ran towards him. She had turned her back on the guards and one with the ability to earthbend had noticed. He shot a rock towards the back of the unknowing girl's head.

"NO!" Zuko yelled and immediately crouched into bending stance. He sent a huge blast of fire around Katara and crashing into the incoming boulder. The explosion knocked Katara and several guards around her including the earth bender who had almost killed her to the ground.

Zuko was at Katara's side in seconds. He flipped her over and looked into her eyes. She cupped his cheek.

"Sorry, I got a little reckless. I was just so happy to see you alive," she said.

He pulled her up into his arms and held her fiercely breathing in her scent as she clung to him.

"Hey guys! I hate to wreck your little welcoming party, but we could kinda use some help," Toph yelled.

Zuko released Katara and stood up. "Stay behind me."

"Zuko, I can take care of myself."

"I know, but you don't have to," he said cupping her face again. Maybe he was right, but he should know her well enough by now to know that wasn't about to happen.

It wasn't long, with Zuko's help, until they had effectively rendered the remaining guards unconscious. Zuko and Sokka both felt they had spilled enough blood for one day, and the others weren't inclined to start. They were all cautious to render their opponents unconscious without ending their lives.

-o-oOo-o-

Aang threw open the doors to the barn and rushed toward Appa. He leapt onto the large sky bison's head and hugged him with all of his might.

"It's great to see you again buddy!"

Appa responded with a loud bellowing sound and everyone gathered around to pet him, and climb aboard his saddle. No doubt he would want to get flying again soon. Being cooped up in a barn for the better part of a week truly must suck, especially if you were as large as Appa and had no more than ten feet of wiggle room on each side.

Zuko walked up behind Katara and put an arm around her waist. She leaned back into his embrace, and he turned her around and kissed her lips lightly and chastely. He wasn't big on PDA, but he couldn't resist the urge to kiss her lips. He lifted her up toward the saddle and Sokka grabbed her hand to pull her the rest of the way. Zuko was the last to get in before Aang resounded his classic "Yip yip!" and they were off, out of the barn and over the city. Aang headed for the central part of the town. They could see the people gathered at the fountain in the middle of town, and Aang urged Appa to land down there.

Aang dismounted Appa's neck followed by all of his friends climbing out of the saddle. The crowd began to cheer, and Zuko sunk back closer to Appa. He really wasn't big on being cheered for. He had done so much wrong in his life. Katara caught a glimpse of him doing this and grabbed his arm so he couldn't sneak back any further without making a scene of pulling his arm away from her.

"Thank you! Thank you," Aang tried to calm the cheering crowd. "The evil queen and Koh have been defeated and your city is now free. The guards that worked for them are at your mercy."

Applause broke out again and it took Aang a moment to calm them back down again so he could continue.

"We sought refuge with you, the people of the town when we first arrived here. So all the thanks and praise goes to you. We couldn't have done it without your help." Aang recognized the faces of those who had specifically went out of their way to help the young travelers when they had first arrived.

"Your city is free. You can now set up a government as you see fit, or leave whenever you desire. The young women of your families can now show their faces in public, and you no longer have to live in fear."

"Stay and live here with us! All of you please stay!" A woman from the crowd yelled.

"We have to go on there is a lot to do to end the war the outside world is involved in. But I will leave you with a warning. Keep each other safe and do what you can to avoid the war with the Fire Nation. Your city needs generations to heal, and if you need help, send someone after us. We will return to help you."

With that the crowd broke out into applause. "Stay and rule us," a man said reaching for Zuko's arm. "You seem to be the oldest of the group you could be our king."

Zuko stepped back and shook his head. "It's not my destiny. I am certain you can find someone here that would make a good and fair king."

A woman approached Katara with the lead rope of an ostrich horse in her hand. "If my memory serves I believe this is your ostrich horse."

"Thank you." With a little bit of effort, they were able to get the ostrich horse into the saddle.

Zuko then lifted Katara back into the saddle and climbed up after her. The avatar once again climbed atop Appa's neck and yelled "Yip yip!"

They were off into the dusky sky in the direction Zuko and Katara had come from almost a week earlier. Zuko had told Aang to head for Kenji's city.

"Oh, by the way," Katara smiled, "Zuko and I got jobs, and we now have money!" she reached for the money pouch in the saddle of the ostrich horse, that was still a bit spooked from flight, and dangled it in front of the others.

"Oh, good, we can buy tea!" Iroh exclaimed and Zuko rolled his eyes.

"We won't be able to make it too far. There are quite a few people on Appa's back and he won't be able to keep this up for long," Aang announced.

Everyone was so tired and no one seemed to have any problems with stopping to make camp soon. Sokka and Yue were already curled up together and fast asleep. Zuko reached for Katara and pulled her back against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. She was clearly very cold and gladly accepted his gesture. Within minutes the two of them were asleep as well, quickly followed by Iroh. Toph stayed awake with a crazy grin on her face looking at the two couples. She had a little plan that she might just try when they were back on good solid ground. And maybe there wouldn't be so-damn-much PDA around this joint.

-o-oOo-o-

Not so very far away, a black haired girl with sharp nails and red armor bent over a fire pit alongside a river. She brushed her fingers through the ash and examined a few of the trees.

"They've been through here. _Recently_."

-o-oOo-o-

**Well that wraps up the second arc of this story. Looks like there will be a new villain in arc 3. Don't worry I am starting on arc 3 tonight. My life is uber busy constantly and I apologize. But I hope to have the next chapter up within a week. Don't hold your breath though. Thanks so much for supporting this story for so long, and I hope I haven't disappointed.**

-o-oOo-o-

**As promised the sneak peak at Arc 4:** **I plan to write arc 4 this fall (arc 3 will be this summer) after LOK comes back on. Because, well, has anyone seen the teaser trailers for LOK? You know how they are fighting those big black spirit world things? Well they will be coming to pay our favorite royal family a visit. Remember this is about 10 years from the current happenings in arc 2. Don't read it if you don't like spoilers but Agni pretty much gave away everything that you will learn from this sneak peak anyways. So without further ado:**

"Kuzon, hold my hand." The child reached up and grabbed on to his mother's hand, and she lead him out the back after the other women and children. She hadn't even known this cave had a back exit. But then, it _was_ on the Crescent Isle, and everything about the Fire Sages and Avatar Roku's temple island was mysterious and very, very old. She followed after the other women and children, holding her own son's hand tightly.

Just then a shrieking sound came through the cave and a large black claw smashed down into the main room with the elaborate fire nation rug where Zuko had left them hours before to join the forces on the front line. Crescent Isle was supposed to be safe. Clearly one of the monsters had left the pack and ventured from the Fire Nation mainland. Katara grabbed her son into her arms and began to run into the hallways under the volcano following the other women and children. After she passed through a doorway she turned and bent water from her water skin towards the door. She completely blockaded it with ice, and turned to run again, her young son clinging to Zuko's cloak that she was still wearing. The group came to a gap in the path where a bridge clearly was supposed to be. Katara imagined that all of the damage the monster had done to the cave had shaken the structure and knocked the bridge out. She needed water but she had used it all on the door.

A large crash sounded and Katara looked back to see the monster smash through her blockade. She sat her son down and drew all the water to her. She made a bridge with rails.

"Cross and be quick about it," she said to the group. They began to do as she asked. The monster was approaching. Kuzon suddenly ran past his mother toward the creature and dropped into a fire bending stance.

"Kuzon!" Katara ran after her son, dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around him. "What are you doing my love? We have to run." She cupped the four year old's face.

"I told Father I would protect you."

She hugged him to her and looked into his eyes. "Kuzon, warriors have to choose when to fight and when to run. Warriors are smart; they choose their battles."

"But Father would fight him."

"Your father is a master Firebender."

"One day I will be, too."

"Yes, one day." She picked up the small child and began to run for the ice bridge just as the creature completely crashed through the doorway and approached them at lightning speed.

-o-oOo-o-

**Hope you liked the sneak peak! Please review! Especially about the scene with Agni. That was hard to write.**

**-engineergirl86**


	27. Hormones and Pranks

**Begin Arc 3.**

Chapter 27

_Hormones and Pranks_

-o-oOo-o-

Appa smoothly began his descent in the middle of the forest. Toph smirked.

"Okay everyone-" Aang began. Toph slapped him.

"Can it Twinkletoes, I've got some pranks to pull."

"But Toph everyone is so tired tonight; we just finished a huge battle."

Toph clearly wasn't listening and Appa landed so smoothly no one woke or even budged.

The first thing she did was bend two rather large holes. She wasn't even deterred when Aang asked what she was doing. She shushed him quickly, and headed back over to Appa silently with large slabs of earth. First she smoothed out the earth into a sheet and slid it under Zuko, who was too far asleep to notice. She then bent it into a large chair-like shape and lifted Zuko and Katara off of Appa without waking the sleeping couple. She quickly deposited them in the hole, still on the 'chair' and proceeded to do the same thing to Sokka and Yue. Aang watched with bewilderment as the warrior and princess were lowered into the second hole. She then simultaneously with both couples removed the 'chair' and bent rock bands around them, smashing them close together into a standing position and waking them up. Before either couple could react, she placed rock lids over the holes, making sure to punch out air holes.

"Toph what the-" Katara started.

"Pipe down Sugar Queen. Here is the thing. You and Sparky are all over each other all the time, and so are Snoozles and Ice Princess. You all are going to stay in there and get all the kissy face, and baby making out of the way so we can move on with our lives. It was highly entertaining at first, but I have quit honestly reached my zenith with this crap, it's starting to get annoying. So go for it, explore the ways of reproduction or whatever suits your fancy. I am going to sleep on the back of Appa so I don't have to feel your vibrations. Twinkletoes, care to join me?"

"Toph! Let us out!" Katara yelled.

"No, I don't think I will just yet. In fact, I may just stay down here and watch. This could be entertaining after all.

"Aang!" she yelled again. Only to be joined by Yue's pleas for the Avatar's aid. At the surface Toph was giving Aang the 'If-you-even-think-about-ruining-this-for-me-I-wil l-smash-you' look.

"Zuko, don't you have anything to say about this?" It was odd that neither of the males had offered any form of protest.

"Nope," the restraint round them kept them from moving their arms too much, but Zuko was able to maneuver his just enough to reach around Katara and get a firm hold on her butt. He leaned into her and pressed her against the wall, and started to kiss her.

In the other hole a very charming Sokka raised his eyebrows suggestively to Yue who giggled. "Well madam," he began in a very formal tone, "it seems we are in bind, and that leaves us with only one sensible course of action." She giggled and Sokka caught her lips faster than she could protest.

After a while of kissing a very dispassionate Katara, who refused to take part in this tomfoolery, Zuko gave up, pulled back and grinned. "Wanna get your brother all riled up and pissed off?"

"Sure but how?" Katara was glad Zuko had stopped kissing her, she really didn't like being 'watched' by Toph.

"Hey, Toph can you remove this band around us? There's only so much I can do with my arms restrained."

"What!?" _thud._ Katara was certain her brother had just literally hit the roof of his hole.

"Toph! You let us all out right now! I need a word with Zuko!"

"Hmm, no, I don't think I will, but I will remove the restraints. Good point Sparky."

Both couples felt the restraints hit the floor. Katara could hear Sokka actively pounding on the roof of his hole.

"Dammit Toph. Let me out."

"I bet Ice Princess is feeling pretty unloved. You two still haven't done anything besides smooch alot. Which is kinda the point of this little exercise, so get on with it and get it out of your system."

"Zuko, if you do anything to my sister you're a dead man!" Sokka yelled.

"This is your idea of funny?" Katara whispered. Zuko shrugged.

"It turned the tables on Toph, she wasn't expecting it."

Katara yawned, she wanted to sit down and sleep, but she didn't want Yue's dress to get muddy.

"I'm so tired," she mumbled to Zuko.

"Well sit down, and sleep." There was obvious disappointment in his voice. He clearly wanted Toph's little plan to work. _Of course he does, he is a guy_,_ it's all they think about_ Katara thought.

"I don't want to sit down and get my dress dirty."

"Then lean against me." Zuko pulled her forward until she was leaning against his chest. His green earth kingdom clothes were filthy, but not as bad as the muddy ground. Katara quickly fell asleep and Zuko lifted her up into his arms and sat down. He was pretty tired too. Maybe they could entertain themselves in the morning. In the background he could hear Sokka banging on the roof. Poor Yue indeed.

Katara woke up in the middle of the night. She was so uncomfortable, she re-adjusted her position on top of Zuko several times, and in the process she woke him up. Not enough to be wide awake, just to be mildly aware of one's surroundings. Eventually she seemed to give up. She stood up, hiked up her dress and straddled him, laying her head on his shoulder facing him. Zuko's eyes shot wide open and he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her off. With the moonlight creeping through the air holes he could see her face. She looked confused. It was then that he remembered how innocent Katara was. She hadn't even realized that what she was doing made him, well . . . aroused.

"Am I too heavy? Zuko, did I hurt you?"

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Quite the opposite actually."

"Huh?"

"Uh Katara you can't um, uh, it was . . . when you do that I'm very . . . uh. . ."

"Very what?" Katara asked.

". . . stimulated." Zuko's face turned the color of his scar.

Realization suddenly hit Katara, and her eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry." Her face turned red to match his.

"Don't be," she felt him reach for her and draw her closer. "I just don't know if I can control myself with you in such a position." Zuko really wanted to make love to her, especially after what had almost happened back in the city. But now wasn't the time or place for that. He didn't want her first time to be in a dirt hole. Especially when Toph was listening in on everything they did.

"But you want _that_ right?" Katara asked, her head on his chest.

"Of course I do. But here and now is not ideal. I want it to be special for you."

"I don't know Zuko, I really want to wait til marriage for that. It is the custom in my tribe."

He nodded and held her close. He was still going to ask again later, but for now he would drop the subject.

"Please don't be upset with me."

"I'm not. I don't know why Toph put us in this hole in the first place there isn't even enough room to lie down." Zuko stood up and pushed on the roof. It came right off. Toph must have fallen asleep and was no longer applying pressure to it. He lifted Katara out, and she went and rolled out their sleeping mats, one on top of the other as they had been accustomed to sharing one and using the other as extra padding. She put them far away from the others' sleeping mats and stripped down to her underwear. She wanted to cheer Zuko up, and he had seemed to really have enjoyed the night they slept together when she was in her underwear.

Zuko elected to leave Sokka and Yue in their hole, as the Water Tribe warrior was prone to be super pissed at Zuko when he came out of the hole. He glanced over to see Katara in only her underwear making their bed. Yep, there was going to be hell to pay in the morning but it was oh so worth it. Maybe if they hid the evidence of having slept in the same bedroll in the morning when he woke up at dawn it would all work out ok. His eyes traveled up her thin tan legs to her round butt as she bent over to finish preparing their bed. He removed his tunic, shirt and shoes, but left his pants on. The two quickly climbed into the bedroll. Zuko's hands were instantly on Katara's hips, pulling her closer and gliding over the rest of her body. She laid her head against his chest.

"Zuko," she cooed. "Tell me how you defeated Koh." He stopped with his exploration of her body and decided to leave on hand on her hip and the other at the small of her back. He began to tell her exactly what happened.

"So we are destined to be together?" He nodded, and she smiled and nuzzled him. He flipped them over onto her back and began his nightly ritual of kissing her passionately. His hands were again roaming her body, and her hands were rubbing his chest, shoulders, and arms. Zuko pulled up from their kiss to look deeply into her eyes. "You know it would have meant nothing if I had been forced to . . . with the queen . . . I promise you I would take no pleasure in it. She was sick and twisted, and not the least bit attractive. You are the only one for me Katara. I only would have gone through the motions to save you." Her eyes welled up in tears at the thought of him being with the queen and she began to sob. She had been forced to hold in all her emotion at the time. Now she was sobbing into his shoulder as he held her tightly.

"I love you and you alone. Let me prove it to you." She felt his hands tugging at her bindings to pull them off as she cried against him.

"No, Zuko," she weakly protested and he instantly stopped. He wanted her so badly, but if she wasn't ready then he would force himself to wait. He nodded and stopped pulling her bindings off. "Can you just go back to kissing me?" she asked softly, tears still flowing. He nodded and crashed his lips into hers, biting her bottom lip gently and then sticking his tongue into her mouth. She captured his bottom lip and began to suck on it playfully. His hands went back to her hips and one of them pressed her closer to him as the other slid up her stomach to cover and squeeze her breast. This time she didn't stop him. Instead they kissed all the more vigorously. Her hands grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him down onto her. Their make out session lasted for another hour before they finally tired themselves out and fell asleep.

-o-oOo-o-

Zuko was a firebender. He rose with the sun. It was just his thing, always had been. The word oversleep wasn't even in his vocabulary. So the next morning when he woke up to a snickering laugh, he was alarmed. Were there men about to steal from them again? His eyes shot open and it was . . . daylight? Not dawn, he saw the sun rather far above the horizon. He looked for the source of the laughter. Toph. He scanned the surroundings to see what was so funny. Katara was still in his arms, so maybe . . . Sokka!

"Raahhhhh! Get away from my sister!"

The warrior was charging him with his club, luckily Zuko never left his swords more than an arm's reach away. He grabbed one of the twin blades and blocked the incoming overprotective brother's blow. The clash of weapons startled Katara awake. She screamed and instinctively doused her brother with cold water from the nearby stream, knocking him back onto his butt away from him.

"Get away from Katara Fire Nation creep!" Sokka yelled. Zuko climbed out of the bedroll and held up his hands. He sighed.

"Sokka calm down, Katara and I just slept together."

Katara face palmed at Zuko's poor choice of words.

"YOU WHAT?" Sokka was charging Zuko again.

The Fire Price blocked the blows and ducked around them. "No . . . Sokka . . . not like that . . . we just . . . er . . . slept in the same bedroll."

"Oh this is too good. I need pop-corn," Toph elbowed Yue. Iroh even had a slight smile on his face, attempting not to laugh, and Aang just looked at Katara like she'd punched him in the face. He looked so hurt so she just kept her head down to avoid eye contact as much as possible as she extracted herself from the bedroll, completely forgetting her lack of actual clothing. Aang looked even more horrified when he saw her state of dress, in only her underwear. Yue looked concerned and begged Sokka to stop.

"Where . . . are . . . her . . . clothes?" the warrior managed between blows at the Fire Prince. Zuko was still blocking his attacks; he really didn't want to have to fight Sokka back, not that it would be difficult. He just didn't want to send the wrong message. He didn't answer Sokka's question. It was obviously rhetorical anyways.

"Sokka that's enough!" Yue hurried over to where the boys were fighting and grabbed Sokka's arm.

"Katara?" Aang asked with a hurt look on his face. She covered her eyes with her hands and began to cry, and then turned and ran to the stream away from camp.

Zuko started after her, but Yue held up a hand to stop him. "Let me handle this. You know, girl talk." He nodded to the Water Tribe princess who then hurried off after Katara, who had stopped only to grab her dress. Zuko stormed past the others and to pick up the rest of his clothes and walk out of the camp in a different direction than Katara.

"Nephew where are you going?"

"To train. No disturbances."

-o-oOo-o-

When Yue reached Katara, she was back in her dress sitting on the side of the stream with her knees pulled up to her chest, crying into them.

The princess dropped down next to her and put a comforting hand on her back.

"We were gonna wake up before everyone else, you know? So no one would know. It's just, we've been sleeping like that for some time now, and we like it. I used to get so cold before and," more tears. "I didn't think everyone would make such a big deal about it even if they found out, I mean did you see Aang's face? He looked so disappointed in me; we didn't do what everyone thinks."

"I know," Yue said comfortingly. "Sokka and I have been sleeping like that, too. But your problems are that Sokka is really overprotective of his little sister. He doesn't see you as a woman Katara. He thinks Zuko is a creep for liking you; you're a little girl still to Sokka. And as for Aang, he has a huge crush on you, so of course he is hurt. Top was just being Toph and making a spectacle of it. Everyone will get used to it in time."

Katara smiled a little and wiped a few tears. "It probably would have been a good idea to stay fully dressed the first few times."

"With someone as attractive as Zuko, who could blame you?" The girls giggled.

"Where is he?" Katara asked.

"He stormed off saying he was going to train and he didn't want any disturbances. I'm sure you would be the exception though. And try not to worry about Sokka. I will see what I can do."

The girls hugged and got up to go back to camp, and Katara started on breakfast with Yue's help. She didn't want to bother Zuko or talk to Aang.

-o-oOo-o-

When Zuko didn't come when she called everyone for breakfast, Katara filled two bowls with the porridge she had made and headed in the direction Yue said Zuko went.

"Keep your clothes on this time Sugar Queen!" Toph yelled. Katara rolled her eyes.

When she reached Zuko he was Firebending vigorously and with more heat and power than she had ever seen. When he saw her he stopped and ran over to her pulling her into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't wake up. Are you ok?"

She nodded. "It's not your fault Zuko."

"Yes it is. I overslept and you got ridiculed."

"And you got attacked by my brother. It's ok. I had a talk with Yue, and it's ok."

Zuko nodded and she handed him his bowl of porridge. They sat down on a log and ate together.

"You don't have to sleep with me anymore if you don't want to," he added after a few minutes of silently eating.

"I do want to," she said looking into his eyes. "How else would I stay warm?"

He cracked a smile. "I don't see how you ever get cold, coming from the South Pole and all."

"We wear lots of layers and insulate our homes, so a cold night here is still a cold night outdoors. We sleep inside at home."

"Your Firebending is really impressive," she added after a moment, "so now that we have the most powerful Firebender in the world with us we might just be able to end the war a lot more quickly! You and Aang and your Uncle, and the rest of us could all take on your father together. And it could be over!"

"Katara, that won't work. He is going to have lots and lots of people guarding him. And I'm not the most powerful yet, sure I'm better, but I still have a ways to go. What Agni said wasn't instantaneous, though he did give me a power boost to defeat Koh. The next Fire Lord chosen of Agni doesn't become instantaneously the best Firebender in the world, but I do feel like my bending is a lot stronger."

"Um, Zuko, you'd better hope it's a lot stronger…"

"What, why?"

Katara pointed to a dark colored metal contraption approaching them at an astounding speed.

"No, Azula. . . We have to leave, now!" He grabbed her by the arm and ran back to camp, pulling his shirt and tunic on, on the way.

At camp Zuko found Iroh, "Azula is coming."

"Everyone we must leave," Iroh instructed.

"Who's Azula?" Sokka asked incredulously.

-o-oOo-o-

**Who indeed Sokka, who indeed? I have a slightly unorthodox plan for the Fire Princess in this story. I won't tell of course but I did want to warn you. I think it will be well received. I bet you all are glad Azula is finally in the story. She was like the unmentioned elephant in the room for some time now. This particular chapter wasn't too plot heavy, but I hoped you like the Zutara . . . um fluff? I guess its fluff. BTW that's about as vulgar as I will get. No lemons, sorry. Well, there will be (as evidenced by Zuko and Katara having a child in the sneak peak), but I won't write them.**


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